The Imperial Core
International:
EU: Only 66% of the total people surveyed had a positive view of the green energy transition, according to the study, conducted by the Norstat Research Institute in Denmark and published on 8 December. France and Germany, the EU’s two most populous countries, are the most sceptical about renewable energy, with only 54% and 57% respectively showing positive attitudes.E Quarterly sales figures of heat pumps in Europe are in a slump amid a 14% drop compared to last year’s quarter, which the industry says was caused by political uncertainty and dropping gas prices.E The downturn in eurozone business activity surprisingly deepened in December, according to closely watched surveys which indicated the bloc’s economy is almost certainly in recession.E EU decides to launch membership talks with Ukraine.CGTN
A significant division has opened up between the US Federal Reserve, on one side, and the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE), on the other, following their monetary policy meetings held this week—a division that could have implications for financial stability.WSWS
National:
Canada: On Friday, 420,000 Quebec public sector workers launched what the Common Front inter-union alliance has said will be a seven-day, province-wide strike ending Thursday, Dec. 14.WSWS Google’s promised $100 million a year brings hope for Canadian news.CD
Denmark: A country known for climate action has already achieved many of the easy steps of decarbonizing. The next stuff is hard and takes time.ICN
Finland: Finland reopened two of its eight border crossings with Russia,RT and then resealed them,EN because the migrants… still existed? Does the Finnish government not have object permanence yet?
France: French lawmakers rejected the government’s immigration bill on Monday by 270 votes to 265, with the far-right, conservatives and left-wing coalition joining forces, marking the first time in 25 years that a motion to reject a bill has been passed.E
Germany: Olaf Scholz has ruled out cutting welfare spending to close the country’s budget gap following a constitutional court ruling, rejecting calls from liberal Finance Minister Christian Lindner.E The German government has resolved its internal disagreements on how to deal with a €60 billion hole left in the government’s finances after a ruling by the country’s constitutional court, announcing a mix of expenditure cuts and additional sources of income.E Germany is rapidly expanding its fibre optic and mobile network rollout, according to the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport on Thursday, but telecom operators are concerned about possible bottlenecks.E
Why Does Germany Continue to Self-Destruct?NC
German metalworkers union acheives 5.5% wage hike.DW
Japan: Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is on Thursday expected to remove influential cabinet members as he seeks to save his premiership from Japan’s biggest political funding scandal in more than three decades.FT Japan’s chief cabinet secretary resigns over funds scandal.CGTN
Netherlands: The Dutch Farmers’ Party (BBB) announced on Friday that they will join the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) group in the European Parliament.E
Portugal: Companies in Portugal that introduced the four-day week reported a 13.7% average drop in weekly working hours, according to the results of a pilot project presented by the study’s coordinators on Tuesday.E
South Korea: South Korea’s president kicked off a visit to the Netherlands Tuesday (12 December), hoping to forge a “chip alliance” between the two global semiconductor powerhouses amid growing tech tensions with China.E
United Kingdom: The UK economy unexpectedly contracted in October, driven by falls in every sector and fuelling concerns that high interest rates could push the country into a downturn.FT Stuttering economy betrays ever-present crisis in capitalism.MR British households have piled up record debts of almost £3 billion ($3.8 billion) with electricity and gas suppliers.RT UK consumer confidence rises to 3-month high.FT The United Kingdom is vulnerable to a “catastrophic” cyber attack that could cripple large sections of its most critical infrastructure, a parliamentary report has warned.RT
England could have built 22% more social homes last year with Rwanda budget.OD PM Sunak convinces Parliament to approve his “Safety of Rwanda” bill.MP Will Rishi die on his immigration hill?OD Less than a third of Brits believe the government cares about their human rights, openDemocracy can reveal.OD NHS England figures for September 2021 to September 2022 show that the annual number of midwives leaving the profession actually outstripped those joining it – this was not even the case for other health professionals like doctors and nurses, despite attrition being an issue across the healthcare system.ET
United States: U.S. House Republicans secure enough votes to formalize Biden’s impeachment inquiry.CGTN The US House of Representatives voted on Monday to approve legislation that would bar the importation of enriched Russian uranium. The measure is part of Washington’s sanction policy against Moscow. The bill now must pass the Senate and be signed by President Joe Biden before becoming law.RT It’s a fairly gradual decrease, it seems. Regardless, it would be virtually impossible to immediately cut off uranium from Russia anyway. They produce half the world’s enriched uranium. The US House and Senate have passed a sweeping military spending bill worth more than $886 billion; it includes $300 million in additional aid for Ukraine.RT
A United States federal appeals court issued a decision on November 20 that could further undermine the right to vote for people of colour. The decision curtails enforcement of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) and opens the door wider to a return to the so-called “Jim Crow” racist laws that once ruled the country’s southern states.GL The Texas Supreme Court has halted a judge’s ruling to allow a woman to terminate her non-viable pregnancy (the fetus has trisomy-18, a likely fatal condition for the child and risks the health and fertility of the mother).CGTN Nonstop dredging kept the Mississippi River open this year, but moving mountains of sand creates its own problems.IM
The Department of Interior finalized President Biden’s Five-Year Plan for offshore oil and gas leasing today following the conclusion of a Congressional review period. The plan continues leasing in the Gulf of Mexico but does not expand leasing into new waters.CD The White House says it has reached a settlement in a longstanding legal battle with Native American tribes and conservation groups regarding 14 dams on the Columbia River basin. The historic agreement, which includes provisions geared toward the eventual removal of four of those dams, could end one of the nation’s most high-profile disputes over the future of hydropower and adds to a growing national debate over what should be considered clean energy.ICN
“The UAW knew these layoffs were coming”: Toledo Jeep workers denounce job cuts.WSWS Call center workers and union leaders arrested in Washington D.C.PW ‘No money for anything but war’: US autoworkers speak out on layoffs, Gaza genocide.WSWS
The Semi-Periphery
International:
Top Chinese diplomat proposes efforts to advance Saudi-Iran ties.CGTN
Putin says EAEU, Iran to sign agreement to create free trade zone.B
Ties between Brazil and Argentina to remain despite ideological differences, FM says.MP
Russia-China relations are ‘pillar of global stability’ – Putin.RT Vladimir Putin hails China-Russia ties as trade beats US$200 billion target, defies Western sanctions.SCMP
Slovak, Polish protesters ease blockade on borders with Ukraine.PD
National:
Argentina: Argentina has devalued the peso by more than 50%, along with cuts in spending in tough measures aimed at tackling a deep economic crisis.DW Thumbs up from the IMF to Argentina’s policy changes.MP Argentina: Milei says burden on private sector is “transitory”.MP Presidential Spokesman warns Argentina going through hyperinflation.MP Devaluation and Austerity Measures Will Mean More Hunger, Misery for Many.R Argentina’s left vows resistance as Javier Milei sets out sharp budget cuts.FT Argentina’s security minister announces crackdown on protests.FT Who Is Luis Caputo, Argentina’s New Economy Minister (Who Is Already Making the Economy Scream)?NC IDB will continue to support Argentina.MP
Argentina’s new Foreign Minister Diana Mondino confirmed that her country would resume the process of joining the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which had been initiated under President Mauricio Macri (2015-2019) but was dropped during the Alberto Fernández years (2019-2023).MP
Azerbaijan: A US pressure campaign is mounting against Azerbaijan, as it increasingly plays a large geopolitical role in the Caucasus and beyond. While Washington operates under the cover of helping out its new good friend Armenia, the assistant secretary of state recently made clear that the US machinations are really directed at two countries on Azerbaijan’s borders: Russia and Iran. In November, the US Senate voted unanimously to halt all aid to Azerbaijan for the next two years. The provision must still pass the House, but the State Department has already signaled that it will pause the delivery of military support regardless.NC Opposition activist swept up in arrests wave ahead of presidential election.EN Azerbaijan continues to arrest journalists.EN
Brazil: Lula proposes support plan for homeless Brazilians. The “Visible Streets National Plan” includes initiatives related to health, food, education, employment, and housing.TS Brazil Awards Oil Concessions in the Pelotas Marine Basin.TS Pro-Bolsonaro forces privatise Sao Paulo’s water amid repression in parliament.GL
Bulgaria: Bulgaria has categorically rejected the request to accept more migrants on its territory in exchange for Austria lifting its veto on Schengen accession.E
China: China’s consumer prices mark steepest fall in 3 years as post-Covid rebound falters.SCMP China sees decline in child respiratory cases at medical facilities.CGTN China’s ‘involuted’ new-energy industry is awash with overcapacity that could stall new economic driver.SCMP China’s yuan loans grow by 21.58 trillion yuan from January to November.CGTN China’s money supply had a dismal November, as private-sector struggles and housing woes suppressed investment.SCMP ‘It’s warmer in the fridge’: cold snap freezes China, bringing snow, accidents and school closures.SCMP
China’s grain harvest hits record high amid food security drive, helped by 16% increase from Xinjiang.SCMP Chinese scientists use genetics to boost iron content of corn, offer hope to anaemia sufferers worldwide.SCMP China looks to AI to navigate massive overhaul of its waterway transport system.SCMP
Chinese banker jailed for life in US$483 million corruption case, largest ever in country’s history.SCMP Hong Kong in calm atmosphere as over 1.19 million Hong Kong residents cast their votes in District Council Election.GT
Hungary: Budapest is ready to retract its veto on a new package of EU aid to Ukraine if Brussels agrees to unblock all of the funds that have been frozen over concerns about Hungary’s rule of law.BNE The European Commission decided to unfreeze around €10.2bn in cohesion funds for Hungary as it had met the required criteria for judicial reforms; the remaining €11.7bn remains locked.BNE
India: On Monday, the Supreme Court of India upheld the revocation of Kashmir’s semiautonomy, which was made by the Parliament on August 5, 2019.TS Diplomatic blow to India as Biden turns down invite.IP
Neo-Liberal falsehoods.MR Prabhat Patnaik goes off on neoliberalism in India.
Moldova: Moldovan president says “new page” opens in country’s history as it gets go-ahead for EU talks.BNE
Poland: PiS era over as Polish parliament elects pro-EU Tusk to be new prime minister.BNE
Russia: Russia readies for a brave new world.IP Self-driving tractors have tilled over two million hectares of land in 2023, according to Cognitive Pilot.RT The coming decade will see Russia greatly expanding its infrastructure, particularly in railroad transport, Putin told a major industry gathering in Moscow.RT Russia’s gold reserves hit new record.RT The Russian government said this week it would exempt 1.2 billion eggs from the import duty in the first half of next year to try to rein in surging prices.RT
Saudi Arabia: Saudi Arabia’s investment minister called for further facilitation on green transition collaborations with Chinese companies in Beijing on Tuesday, with bilateral trade and business exchanges in full swing amid their fraying relations with the West.SCMP
South Africa: South Africa, economically crippled by a serious electricity crisis and repeated power cuts, plans to increase its nuclear power production, which is currently marginal, the government announced on Tuesday.AN South Africa to build new nuclear plants that will come on stream in a decade.AN Miners are blockading more than 400 of their colleagues underground at a gold mine in South Africa on Friday, amid tensions over a murder this week, the operator said.AN
Turkiye: Turkey’s minimum wage is becoming the average wage, contrary to the global norm, according to the country’s Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions. Criticising the government, Cerkezoglu said: “In Turkey, wages are not even at a level sufficient for basic survival, let alone a dignified life.”BNE Hundreds of textile workers in Turkey continue wildcat strike in defiance of military police crackdown.WSWS Turkey’s central bank chief urges business to see high rates strategy as pain worth bearing.BNE
Uruguay: Uruguay’s Presidential Secretary Álvado Delgado said Sunday that he would resign on Dec. 21 to focus on the 2024 presidential campaign.MP Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou exchanged verbal flak with his likely successor Friday while shaking hands at a business event in Progreso. “If you want to maintain a good relationship, try to mind your manners,” Lacalle told Canelones Mayor (Governor) Yamandú Orsi of the opposition Frente Amplio.MP
The Periphery
International:
UAE-based Masdar is advancing a 10-GW growth plan across six Sub-Saharan African nations. The announcements were made during COP28.BNE
WHO reports anthrax outbreaks in 5 East and Southern African countries, resulting in 20 deaths.AN
Central Asia’s population is growing, but its water resources are rapidly shrinking.BNE
Mirziyoyev noted that some 90% of the water Uzbekistan uses, around 46 bcm, goes to agriculture, and that some 12 bcm of that water is wasted due to the country’s dilapidated irrigation system. … Mirziyoyev gave orders for a “shock” programme to be applied in which some 1,500 kilometres (932 miles) of Uzbekistan’s canals will in 2024 be given a concrete lining. In 2025, the lining is to be added to some 2,000 kilometres more.
Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have experienced three dry summers in a row. They serve as a warning and, according to some forecasts, worse is on the way, and possibly very soon.
Asia lags behind pre-pandemic levels of food security, UN food agency says.PW
Guyana, Venezuela agree to avoid conflict escalation.CGTN
Hey, wait, you can’t NOT fight a war over a border area! That’s not allowed! Diplomatic and peaceful process instead of conflict and bloodshed?! How the fuck are we meant to profit off that?!
National:
Angola: Angola and China sign investment protection agreement.B
Bangaldesh: The hidden death toll of flooding in Bangladesh sends a dark signal about climate and health.PW
Bolivia: Russia Takes Part in Lithium Extraction Project in Bolivia.TS
Cambodia: The intractable problem of land grabbing in Cambodia.ET
Chad: On December 17, more than eight million Chadians will vote in a referendum on a new constitution, according to the National Commission in charge of organizing the constitutional referendum.AN
Colombia: Farmers in Colombia fight multinational oil companies to get their land back.RNN
Cuba: Cuba Foils Violent Plans of Terrorists Based in the US.R
DRC: On the campaign trail in the troubled east of his country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, President Félix Tshisekedi on Friday compared his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame to Adolf Hitler and his “expansionist aims”.AN
Gabon: The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) announced on Friday that it was maintaining the suspension of Gabon, a sanction imposed following the overthrow of President Ali Bongo Ondimba by the military last August.AN
Kazakhstan: ArcelorMittal sells Kazakhstan steel and mining business to state-run fund.BNE Freezing temperatures cause infrastructure failures – again.EN
Kenya: Much of Kenya falls into darkness in the third nationwide power blackout in 3 months.AN When economists shut off your water.DE On the World Bank exploiting Nairobi via a water infrastructure grift.
Kuwait: Kuwait’s ruling emir Sheikh Nawaf dies aged 86.DW I like that this is just gonna be a long conga line of elderly monarchs taking power and then dropping dead a few years later. Probably gonna happen in the UK too.
Mali: Minusma hands over one of its last camps to the authorities.AN MINUSMA lowers its flag in Mali.AN Mali: Last German troops return, told mission ’not in vain’.DW This was the most “in vain” mission I have ever seen in my life.
Myanmar: Myanmar has seen significant rise in poppy farming as cultivation in Afghanistan declines, according to the UN.RT Myanmar sees temporary ceasefire between military junta and rebel groups after China-led peace talks.SCMP
Niger: West African bloc to gradually ease sanctions on Niger.PD Niger says all French troops will have left by December 22.AN Niger plans to start supplying the international market with crude oil next month, Reuters has reported, citing the country’s military government. The crude from the landlocked African country is being transported to a port in neighboring Benin via the Niger-Benin crude pipeline, operated by the China National Petroleum Corporation.RT
Nigeria: The World Bank recognises the efforts made by the government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to improve Nigeria’s economic situation, but insists on the need for further reforms, in a half-yearly report published on Wednesday.AN
Blood for the blood god.
Pakistan: Mass protests have continued for almost three weeks in Pakistan’s poorest province, Balochistan, against the Pakistani state’s use of forced disappearances, extra-judicial killings and other illegal means to suppress widespread opposition, including an ethno-nationalist separatist insurgency. The immediate trigger for the protests was last month’s extra-judicial killing of 24 year-old Balaach Mola Bakhsh by state security forces.WSWS Pakistan’s farms, mines in trouble with Afghans pushed out.DW
Peru: One year after protests in Peru were violently suppressed in the wake of president Pedro Castillo’s dismissal from office, demonstrations are taking place again. And, once again, the authorities are threatening to repeat the crackdown that led to 49 deaths, still unpunished, in January and February.OD
Solomon Islands: Recent U.S. intelligence and media reports are “unfair” and use a “bombardment of rumors” against the Solomon Islands, says a former Solomon Islands government (SIG) official. The U.S. government and Australia are targeting the Solomon Islands as part of a campaign for a new Cold War on China.PW
Somalia: Somalia to rejoin global financial system after securing debt-relief deal.FT Somalia signs treaty to formally join East African Community.AN Somalia positive for economic revival after IMF debt relief.AN
Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka’s Minister of Agriculture Mahinda Amaraweera said on Monday that the country’s annual rice demand is 25,40,000 tonnes, and this year’s harvest is expected to reach 27,50,000 tonnes.PD Dengue cases surpass 80,000 in Sri Lanka so far this year.PD
Sudan: Over 3,000 humanitarian organizations cease working in Sudan due to ongoing war.CGTN Deadly diseases stalk millions in war-torn Sudan.GL Clashes between Sudanese army, paramilitary forces spread to Gezira State in central Sudan.PD
Uganda: Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said Wednesday that around 200 members of the ADF rebels affiliated with the Islamic State group were killed in Ugandan-led airstrikes in September in the Democratic Republic of Congo.AN
Uzbekistan: Tashkent is a valuable regional mediator. Washington shouldn’t view it as a pawn in its game of great power competition.RS Asking the US not to view small countries as pawns is like asking a fish not to swim in water.
ADB to help improve 700 km of rural roads in Uzbekistan.BNE
Venezuela: Guyana: A Crushing Victory of the Venezuelan People.R
Zambia: Zambia strives to become world’s second-biggest copper producer after Chile.BNE
Zimbabwe: At least 100 elephants dead from drought in Zimbabwe.AN
Global Institutions
Carbon credits talks collapse at Cop28 over integrity concerns.CCN COP28 ended a day late with nearly 200 countries agreeing to transition away from fossil fuels, and to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency.BNE Oil-reliant Azerbaijan chosen to host Cop29 climate talks.CCN Major food and agriculture companies have sent 340 representatives to Dubai for the climate summit.DS Protesting at UN Climate Talks Is Becoming Increasingly Difficult, Activists Say.ICN How Russia won a ‘dangerous loophole’ for fossil gas at Cop28.CCN Why didn’t China and India sign COP28 tripling renewables pledge?CCN
“Grossly insufficient” and “incoherent” are among the terms being used to describe a deal reached by delegates at the COP28 summit, in which it was declared that the world must transition away from fossil fuels. “Transition” was the term climate activists took umbrage with most, at a time when it feels imperative that the world must break away entirely from oil and gas altogether.PW
COP28: business as usual.MR
Debt servicing costs in a clutch of the world’s poorest countries are set to soar to “crisis” levels as high interest rates damage already fragile economies, according to the World Bank.FT With the US Fed raising interest rates, the world economy is slowing as debt distress spreads across the global South, increasing poverty worldwide to pre-pandemic levels, with the poorest countries faring worst.NC Global trade will contract by 5% in 2023 compared to last year, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) reported this week, expressing a generally negative outlook for 2024.RT
A new report shows that the number of ‘grave violations’ committed against children in war rose 13% in 2022, to the highest level since reporting started in 2005. About 27,638 grave violations were committed against children during conflict in 2022. That’s an average of 76 a day.AN
2023 is gonna be an absolute doozy, thanks to the brave Israeli Baby Slaughtering Brigades.
The Second Cold War
Russia:
Diplomatically:
Beltway Geniuses Keep Flinging Russia and China Into Each Other’s Arms.SP
Germany’s Scholz warns of crumbling Ukraine support ahead of EU summit.E
Lack of Trust Between the US and Türkiye Sees Same Sticking Points Derailing Sweden’s NATO Bid.NC
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that multiple Western leaders had approached him about potential negotiations to end the conflict in Ukraine, saying the Kremlin is ready for dialogue so long as it respects Moscow’s core interests.RT
Economically:
Ukrainian economy and war effort threatened by trucker blockade on Polish border, says head of Ukrainian Federation of Employers.BNE
The US has hit companies in Turkey, the UAE and China with a fresh round of sanctions as part of efforts to stop Russia obtaining sensitive technologies for its war in Ukraine.FT More sanctions on Russia agreed by EU leaders, targeting oil and diamonds.E This is really just a make-work scheme to give European politicians jobs at this point. The governmental equivalent of paying a worker to dig a hole and then fill it in again.
One year on: laundromat countries allow Russia to dodge oil price cap sanctions.BNE Literally just “countries that buy Russian oil and then sell it on to G7 countries.” Like, what the fuck? The West is incompetent, for sure, but I refuse to believe that they are SO incompetent that they couldn’t see the obvious, gigantic loophole right in front of them when they conjured this dipshittery up.
Militarily:
UK and Norway join forces to help Ukraine build coastal, maritime defences.E NATO’s war textbooks should be shelved as no modern training manual can prepare soldiers for the war in Ukraine, according to the secretary of Kiev’s National Security and Defense Council.RT U.S. Military Has More Unfeasible Plans For Ukraine.MoA Accepting Defeat In Ukraine.MoA
Western Policymakers Are Panicking Because There Was No Plan B if the Counteroffensive Failed.NC
China:
Diplomatically:
Space cooperation between China and Egypt has reached a new milestone, with the Arab nation joining the construction of a China-led moon base that is expected to be up and running by 2035.SCMP
‘I wouldn’t say I’m optimistic’ about state of China relations, says US ambassador to Beijing Nicholas Burns.SCMP
Xi’s Hanoi visit refutes claims Vietnam is being pulled into U.S. orbit.PW
I feel like it depends on how you define “orbit”. There are very few countries that can just ditch the US or China due to their reliance on their imports/exports, and China doesn’t have the same obsession with building overseas military bases that the US has, as they don’t desire world military hegemony. They’re playing different games geopolitically. China’s approach is frustrating for fans of the USSR’s approach during the Cold War, like myself, but I have a feeling it’ll be historically vindicated.
It’s actually quite ironic: China has the economic ABILITY to oppose the US in a Cold War-esque power struggle but not the WILL, whereas for Russia it’s the other way around. Not that Russia isn’t quite MILITARILY strong - it’s kicking the West’s ass in Ukraine and has unparalleled missile technology - just that its global economic heft, while a very significant oil and food producer among many other things, doesn’t correlate to that military strength.
Economically:
As China stands at the forefront of nuclear energy, work on its Linglong One small modular reactor is progressing. But it is a different story in the United States where high costs, lack of staff and delays have seen yet another reactor project shelved.SCMP China’s running away with production in strategic industries as US, G7 suffer rapid declines.SCMP New Florida law blocks Chinese students from academic labs.S
Xinjiang: US adds more Chinese officials and companies to sanctions list.SCMP A planned Apple manufacturing facility in India is set to get an extra $1 billion in investment to help the US tech giant move some of its production out of China.RT Beijing accuses Taiwan of import ‘barriers’ that have taken toll on mainland Chinese firms.SCMP IMF warns of China/US blocs deepening trade fragmentation, with ‘fault lines’ emerging.SCMP European firms are reluctant to speak up on China as Brussels seeks to de-risk.SCMP
The amount of American land held by Chinese buyers declined in 2022, according to new data from the US Department of Agriculture, during a time when policymakers’ concerns about such ownership are running high. Chinese land ownership in the US fell by 2 per cent, from about 357,000 acres in 2021 to 349,442 acres, and comprised just shy of 1 per cent of all foreign-held American land.SCMP
Militarily:
2 years after US killed the rail gun, China brings weapon back to life with technological leap.SCMP
Taiwanese pilot planned to defect to mainland China with US-made army helicopter, court told.SCMP A U.S. fighter jet crashed in South Korea during a training flight on Monday.PD
Palestine:
Diplomatically:
Black People won’t be silenced about Israel.MR Your enemies destroyed one Palestine; my wounds populated many Palestines: The Forty-Ninth Newsletter (2023).MR Israel’s onslaught drags U.S. Jewish life into the abyss.MR
Mideast and even Ukraine ceasefire demands growing in the labor movement.PW Toronto rallies for Palestine.CD
Israel and U.S. increasingly isolated as world’s nations unite to back ceasefire.PW NYT Amplifies Outrage Over Imaginary Calls for Genocide.FAIR Latin America and the Caribbean Stand with Palestine: Israel Viewed as a US Proxy.R European Union has ’lost credibility’ on Israel and Palestine, says Ireland’s PM.EN
Economically:
UK announces fresh sanctions against Belarus, Syria and Iran.CGTN Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has condemned Israel’s genocide in Gaza but refused to cut off the flow of critical materials from Turkey such as steel and oil that feed Tel Aviv’s war machine.WSWS Turkey trio hit with “Hamas financing” sanctions by US, UK.BNE
West Bank General Strike Kicks Off Global Protest Against Israel’s War on Gaza.SP Occupied Palestinian Territories Strike Against War in Gaza.TS Strike takes place in Jordan to support Palestinian people in Gaza.PD Unionists around the World Block Weapons Bound for Israel.LN In Australia, Palestine solidarity activists are blockading ZIM ships bound for Israel.J Leading tanker company warns it may divert from Red Sea trade route.FT Maersk halts Red Sea shipping after another attack.DW
Militarily:
Nearly Half of All Israeli Munitions Dropped on Gaza are Imprecise ‘Dumb’ Bombs.SP Gaza is one of the most heavily bombed areas in history.GPE 9 in 10 Gazans report lack of food.WSWS Israel Is Wiping Out Gaza’s Journalists: A Tribute.MPN IDF killed Israeli hostages in Gaza.RT
US troops are occupying Syria’s oil fields. Congress refuses to withdraw them.GPE
Iran to soon oust U.S. aircraft carriers from region: navy commander.PD
Various Analyses
Ukrainian trial demonstrates 2014 Maidan massacre was false flag.GZ
Kissinger and Apartheid.R In Kissinger’s Wake.NOEMA Kind of a lib article but it could be worse.
Self-Driving Cars Hit the Wall.NC
“To put it another way, the only way self-driving cars appeared able to live up to their promise would be if all cars were self-driving and ceded control to a central network, so the network would control the behavior of all vehicles, greatly limiting hazards and random events.”
It’d probably be best to have the cars be on pre-determined tracks between destinations then, to simplify the system, albeit with human drivers for emergencies. At that point you might as well just have the cars connected together, rather than separate– god damn it, we invented trains again!
The more fertile you are, the sooner you may die — study.DW Post-transition trans people are immortal demigods.
Environment:
Fossil Fuels Can Go Extinct — If We Take our Climate Anxieties SeriouslyDS Two charts show we are way off track for net zero by 2050.GL Rampant fires have engulfed the Pantanal in Brazil, devastating endangered species and indigenous communities.E Warmest Arctic summer on record is evidence of accelerating climate crisis, says NOAA.BNE
Bird flu expanding in Antarctica, high mortality among elephant seals.MP
In the Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan, farmers have harvested the limited rainwater with an indigenous technique called ‘khadeen’, that has worked for thousands of years and helped them irrigate their fields. Over the last few decades however, many farmers quit khadeen-based cultivation to opt for canal irrigation. Khadeens therefore, were slowly destroyed and the traditional knowledge of rainwater harvesting became restricted. Local tribal communities and farmers in Jaisalmer are now reviving hundreds of khadeens with an aim to protect the biodiversity and also stop farmers from migrating for water.MB
In past decade, global agriculture’s rate of growth has slowed.IM
Economics:
Faced with China’s rise, Western states are turning from free trade dogmas to active industrial policies. This turn may offer opportunities for labor — but as the electric auto industry shows, it is also producing a harmful logic of national rivalries.J “Active industrial policies” involve “letting the US blow up your source of cheap energy and then doing nothing about it and watching your industries collapse.”
Enslaved by Nonprofits: How NGOs Colonize Developing Countries.MPN
The ‘brain drain’ is a symptom of how capitalism has failed the healthcare sector.MR
‘Pharmanomics: How Big Pharma Destroys Global Health’ – book review.MR
Pitfalls of export-led growth.MR
If Wall Street’s Mega Banks Are Safe and Sound as the Fed Says, Why Do They Need a Half Trillion Dollar Bailout Facility at the New York Fed?WSoP The New York Fed Has Extended Its Half Trillion Dollar Bailout Facility to a Sprawling Japanese Bank You’ve Never Heard Of.WSoP
Is neoliberalism really dead? Or does it live on like a zombie?GPE
Panama Canal drought hitting world trade.MP
LGBTQIA+
Content Warning - this is usually not good news.
Poland Must Legally Recognize Same-Sex Couples, European Human Rights Court Rules.A
Could the historic case of a trans sex worker end Malawi’s anti-LGBTIQ law?OD
GOP Defense Bill Stripped of Anti-LGBTQ+ and Anti-Abortion Measures.A As Culture Wars Rage, LGBTQ+ Support Is Going Down ‘Across the Board,’ According to a New Study.A