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[Image is of China's ambassador to Afghanistan, Zhao Sheng, meeting Taliban Prime Minister Hasan Akhund in September 2023.](https://archive.ph/ssr8I) I know the Rambo title card is a hoax. The COTW was chosen in the wake of the aborted sequel to the attempted assassination of Trump being performed by a guy who is VERY enthusiastic about Ukraine, to the point of trying to sneak Afghan soldiers into Ukraine by setting up a house in Pakistan to house them and then further transport them. He also apparently offered to send thousands of Afghan soldiers to Haiti to help them combat gang violence. Whomst among us doesn't have the numbers of thousands of Afghan soldiers on speed-dial. Do you reckon there's a group chat? Anyway, while there is still no official recognition of the Taliban's government by any country, China has taken a different course than the late USSR and the US - forming economic in-roads, rather than trying their own invasion. This has been a big boon for the struggling country, with various mines and oil and agriculture deals helping keep things barely afloat. A total disintegration of the social fabric of Afghanistan is not in the interest of any of the powers that border it - China, Pakistan, and Iran, with Russia not too far away - so an interesting dynamic of helping-without-official-recognition has been established. I wonder who will be the first country to fully recognize them? --- The COTW (Country of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific country every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied nations. If you've wanted to talk about the country or share your experiences, but have never found a relevant place to do so, now is your chance! However, don't worry - this is still a general news megathread where you can post about ongoing events from any country. The Country of the Week is **Afghanistan**! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. [More detail here.]() [Please check out the HexAtlas!](https://hexbear.net/post/2124249) [The bulletins site is here!](https://bulletins.hexbear.net/) [The RSS feed is here.](https://bulletins.hexbear.net/index.xml) [Last week's thread is here.](https://hexbear.net/post/3414004?sort=New) ::: spoiler 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.](https://hexbear.net/comment/4090067) 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.](https://www.unrwa.org/resources/reports) [English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account.](https://twitter.com/Marxozoic) Alt [here.](https://twitter.com/LeninOfNazareth) [English-language twitter account that collates news.](https://twitter.com/ME_Observer_) [Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.](https://twitter.com/ib_reb) [English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon.](https://twitter.com/IbnRiad) - Telegram is @IbnRiad. [English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis.](https://twitter.com/EyesOnSouth1) - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth. [English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two.](https://twitter.com/AryJeay) - [Telegram here.](https://t.me/FotrosResistance) [English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.](https://t.me/s/PalestineResist) [More telegram channels here for those interested.](https://hexbear.net/comment/4142039) ::: ::: spoiler Russia-Ukraine Conflict [Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists](https://web.archive.org/web/20240826232752/https://leftypol.org/edu/src/1662026001627.webm) [Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict](https://www.hexbear.net/post/177244) **Sources:** Defense Politics Asia's [youtube channel](https://www.youtube.com/c/DefensePoliticsAsia/videos) and their [map](defensepoliticsasia.com/Ukraine/). Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful. [Moon of Alabama](https://www.moonofalabama.org/), which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section. [Understanding War](https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/ukraine-conflict-updates) and the [Saker](http://thesaker.is/): reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war. [Alexander Mercouris](https://www.youtube.com/c/AlexanderMercourisReal/videos), 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](https://substack.com/@simplicius76), 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](https://www.youtube.com/c/PatrickLancasterNewsToday/videos), an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side. Unedited [videos](https://invidious.snopyta.org/channel/UCo-P9gyWGjOkdquRBt0zowQ/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. --- :::
 Palestinian Factions Sign Beijing Declaration on Ending Division and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity 2024-07-23 18:49 On July 23, 2024, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi attended in Beijing the closing ceremony of the reconciliation talks of Palestinian factions and witnessed the signing of the Beijing Declaration on Ending Division and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity by 14 Palestinian factions. In his remarks, Wang Yi noted that since entering the new era, President Xi Jinping has put forward proposals and propositions on addressing the Palestinian question, contributing Chinese wisdom and solution for addressing the question. Now, 14 Palestinian factions are gathering in Beijing with the greater good of their nation in mind. This is an important historical moment in the Palestinian liberation cause. China commends the reconciliation efforts made by all the factions, and congratulates them on the success of the Beijing dialogue and the signing of the Beijing Declaration.  Wang Yi pointed out that only when Palestinian factions speak as one can the voice of justice be loud and clear, and only when they join hands and march forward shoulder to shoulder can they succeed in their national liberation cause. ***The most important consensus from the Beijing talks is to achieve the reconciliation and unity among the 14 factions; the core outcome is the affirmation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of all Palestinian people;*** the biggest highlight is the agreement on establishing an interim government of national reconciliation focusing on the post-conflict reconstruction of Gaza; and the strongest call is for truly establishing an independent State of Palestine in accordance with relevant U.N. resolutions. The key to the Palestinian reconciliation process is to bolster confidence, keep to the right direction, and make incremental progress. Only by making continuous efforts to build consensus and put it into practice can the reconciliation process yield more and more substantive progress and greater unity. Reconciliation is the internal affair of Palestinian factions, and cannot happen without international support. On the path toward reconciliation, China shares the same direction and destination with Arab and Islamic countries. Wang Yi noted that the Palestinian question is at the core of the Middle East issue. China never has any selfish interests on the Palestinian question. China was among the first countries to recognize the PLO and the State of Palestine. China all along firmly supports the Palestinian people in restoring their legitimate national rights. We value fairness and advocate for justice. At present, the Gaza conflict drags on, its spillovers continue to spread, and multiple regional conflicts are interconnected. To help get out of the current conflict and predicament, China proposes a three-step initiative:  The first step is to achieve comprehensive, lasting and sustainable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible, and ensure access to humanitarian aid and rescue on the ground. The international community should build more synergy for ending the hostilities and establishing a ceasefire. The second step is to make joint efforts toward post-conflict governance of Gaza under the principle of “Palestinians governing Palestine.” Gaza is an inseparable, integral part of Palestine. Restarting post-conflict reconstruction as soon as possible is an urgent priority. The international community needs to support Palestinian factions in establishing an interim national consensus government and realizing effective management of Gaza and the West Bank. The third step is to help Palestine become a full member state of the U.N. and get down to implementing the two-State solution. It is important to support the convening of a broad-based, more authoritative, and more effective international peace conference to work out a timetable and road map for the two-State solution. Ceasefire and humanitarian rescue are pressing priorities. “Palestinians governing Palestine” is the basic principle for the post-conflict governance of Gaza. The two-State solution is the fundamental way forward. The international community should support the parties in taking the three steps in real earnest.  Wang Yi noted that intra-Palestinian reconciliation will bring hope and a future to the Palestinian people. It is an important step toward resolving the Palestinian question and achieving peace and stability in the Middle East. Unwavering efforts must be continually made in this direction. China sincerely hopes that Palestinian factions will achieve reconciliation and, on that basis, realize independent statehood at an early date. We will strengthen communication and coordination with the relevant parties and make joint efforts for the implementation of the Beijing Declaration. Head of the Fatah delegation Mr. Mahmoud al-Aloul and head of the Hamas delegation Mr. Musa Abu Marzouk delivered remarks on behalf of the Palestinian factions. They noted that China holds an important place in the heart of Palestinian people, and expressed sincere appreciation for President Xi Jinping and China’s unchanging, firm support and selfless assistance to Palestine over a long period of time. They spoke highly of China’s acting as a responsible major country and upholding justice for Palestine in international fora. They expressed deep appreciation for China’s strong support for intra-Palestinian dialogue and reconciliation. They stated their readiness to implement the consensus, strengthen unity among factions, advance the reconciliation process, and work for an early solution to the question of Palestine.  Diplomatic envoys to China or their representatives from Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Russia and Türkiye as well as representatives from 14 main Palestinian factions attended the closing ceremony.  LONG LIVE THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA AND LONG LIVE COMRADE XI JINPING
Hello and warm greetings to my fellow news mega enjoyers and to the wider hexbear, lemmygrad and lemmy.ml community, I've been finding myself browsing the newsmega often and was often thinking of a way that would help me contextualize the discussions and news that I'm reading. I remembered an atlas I had in school that would show the location of industries and natural ressources (and more) and decided try to recreate a digital version similar to https://atlas.cid.harvard.edu/. When I stumbled upon lemmy-js-client I found a fun way to display lemmy comments geographically, which I would like to share with you: https://hex-atlas.netlify.app/ ⚠️ **Spoiler Tags are not implemented** thus CWs are not hidden Nexus Features: - [@SeventyTwoTrillion@hexbear.net](https://hexbear.net/u/SeventyTwoTrillion) Bulletins - Hexbear Reading List (Thank you [@CARCOSA@hexbear.net](https://hexbear.net/u/CARCOSA) for the suggestions) - ProleWiki (Thank you Lemmygrad for maintaining this) - Wikipedia/Natopedia - Anarchist Library I'm open for suggestions, but would like to continuously add new features: - Mastodon.social (well documented) - Marxists.org (will be difficult) - ~~Moon of Alabama (looks easy)~~ (Thank you [@someone@hexbear.net](https://hexbear.net/u/someone) for pointing out the transphobia) - Usability and performance improvements - and maybe more cool features where the guiding ideas are: "IRL Victoria 3 UI" and a "cockpit for newsmega-enjoyers" (e.g. comparing regions and seeing commodity/capital flows, real-time 1% flight data, vessel data - to enjoy the ansar allah blockade, virgin chad ranking, etc.) Basic usage: - You can either search for a place or click on it. You'll see various scopes: provinces/territories, countries, intermediate regions, sub regions, continent. You can click also on these to change the scope. What it actually does is send it as a search query into lemmy and you see the search results to it (I built a fancy search page). IN the Fediverse Tab you can select the instances, sort types, and other settings from lemmy. On the Nexus Tab you have a similar behaviour, just for the various modules. You'll see the wiki of whatever is selected on the map : - use query to search location by query e. g. brics and find discussions pertaining to the selected location. - the query field can also be used to find and filter content by communities that are not listed - on Mobile long press pictures to unblur it (not fully tested) on desktop hover with mouse tldr: Attention [Pink]: Select an option [Purple] to reveal selected information [Yellow]. It's in a prototype stage so please keep in mind: - ⚠️ **Spoiler Tags** are not implemented thus CWs are not hidden ⚠️ - It's mostly optimized for desktops. Sry comrades with old hardware - no optimization, yet :( [@kota@hexbear.net](https://hexbear.net/u/kota) post inspired me to look into this tho. - **Provinces/Territories**: While I was doing manual edits to some regions I realized I'm doing something very political (duh). Following this, I'm looking for solutions to implement _user defined regions_ (if there's interest from you) e.g. #fromTheRiverToTheSea #brics #udssr #whatever Comrade [@SleeplessOne1917@lemmy.ml](https://lemmy.ml/u/SleeplessOne1917) offered help, but I have only experience with front-end and am not sure how and what to propose. All my ideas are leveraging the current state of development and might be annoying to you. If you have experience, suggestions, etc. on how to make this work, feel free to start a discussion, reach out, etc. - **Provinces/Territories**: If you want something particularly aggravating changed asap, feel free to start a discussion and vOtE! I'll update manually. - Countries that span two continents are only displayed as belonging to one e.g. Russia - Europe (Dataset used: https://github.com/lukes/ISO-3166-Countries-with-Regional-Codes) - Right now this project is exclusive to hexbear, lemmygrad, lemmy.ml and their federated instances. I have an inner conflict: Generally, fuck intellectual property and I would like to make it foss, but this would make it available for lib/chud content as well. Should I? Help me resolve this. - No login implemented Please consider this a tribute to this community, which I've been lurking and a member since the r/CTH days (nevar forget). I started web development not too long ago and am deeply inspired by dev titans among others: [@nutomic@lemmy.ml](https://lemmy.ml/u/nutomic) [@dessalines@lemmy.ml](https://lemmy.ml/u/dessalines) [@SleeplessOne1917@lemmy.ml](https://lemmy.ml/u/SleeplessOne1917) Thank you and the mods and admins for making hexbear/lemmy what it is today.  Enjoy your weekend :) (After I post this I will leave the computer for a while and wont be able to really check and respond for a few hours) Death to fascism Death to capitalism Death to imperialism Trans rights are human rights  EDIT: After some consideration I decided to make the code public under the GNU AFFERO GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE ( AGPL-3.0 license ) https://github.com/hexatlas/lemmy-atlas/ https://git.altesq.net/hex_atlas/lemmy-atlas/
finance.yahoo.com
       Edit: I realised that I spelled Pissingers name wrong in the title. Pity.
Propaganda is flying around like crazy in this conflict and I think it's time for our community to come together and try to separate the truth from misinformation and chaff. Similar to my last post on the [al-Ahli Hospital Massacre](https://hexbear.net/comment/4122092), we're going to go with the following format: For top-level comments, post the claim being made as well as who made the claim (please cite as close to the original source as possible) and, if possible, the date/time that claim was made. For other comments, please try to either prove or debunk claims using multiple sources and verifiable information.
The purpose of this thread is to document crimes and atrocities conducted by Israel in Palestine. Ground Rules: 1. **Only post verified reports with proof.** There have been multiple instances of fake news being mixed up with real news which undermines real crimes. 2. **Proper backup of the data should be ensured** Western controlled media and social media will definitely wipe evidence. For this reason, it's necessary to preserve everything on a safe host. For news articles or twitter threads, use the web archive. Please feel free to mention any other safe / immutable places to store information and I'll add them here. 3. **Proper formatting should be a priority** This is a serious effort thread so please treat it as such. Whenever posting something, include the **source**, **context**,**what happened** and **evidence**. Top Level comments should preferably only be what the post is for. I ask you to give your opinions either in the news mega or in the sub comments. 4. **CW any link to proof that shows pictures of dead or badly wounded people.** ICJ report on the conflict : https://www.icj-cij.org/sites/default/files/case-related/192/192-20231228-app-01-00-en.pdf
www.opb.org
Biden reversing course to final-days-of-Trump-presidency policy making it open season on endangered keystone species gray wolves.
www.swissinfo.ch
r/Europe discussion (CW : Hitler Particles) https://reddit.com/r/europe/comments/1fi0dx9/swiss_politician_resigns_after_firing_shots_at/
nypost.com
This New York Post article claims that he "championed left-wing causes", but does not provide any evidence for that. However, it does reveal him to be a Neocon warmonger. Snip: *Routh is also a staunch supporter of Ukraine and Taiwan in their respective conflicts against Russia and China. He claims on X that he tried to “sell” the idea of having former Afghanistan troopers fight for Ukraine in Russia, but was denied multiple times before giving up after six months.* *He also visited Kyiv and claimed that he would be willing to fight on the front lines, if he were permitted to.* He was also a supporter of nuclear warmonger Nikki Haley's presidential campaign.
www.opb.org
Fun anecdote from the article about a _previous_ merger one of these companies did: >Washington seeks to avoid the situation it found itself in a decade ago, when Albertsons bought the Safeway chain. To satisfy regulators concerned about that deal's potential impact on supermarket competition and consumers, Albertsons sold 146 stores to Haggen, a small grocery chain based in Bellingham, Washington. >But Haggen struggled with the expansion. Within six months, it had closed 127 stores — including 14 in Washington — and laid off thousands of workers. Haggen sold its remaining stores to Albertsons in 2016. Now, 10 Haggen stores in Washington are on the list to be sold if the merger happens. Look at the math on that little offer they did to make the merger more palatable. lmao
www.nme.com
> Jackass star Steve-O has shared on why he changed his mind on getting breast implants, which he first announced in July was part of a series of planned pranks. > The stunt would have involved Steve-O getting his "whole body waxed", with all his tattoos removed via airbrush, and losing weight to "get really slender and petite". Steve-O would then attend a motorcycle rally attempting to capture "big gangs of motorcycle riders" checking him out before he reveals his real identity. "I would walk up to pull off my helmet and say, 'Yeah, dude,' and get this crazy reaction, which, predictably, would be contentious," he shares. > It was this part of the plan that the person Steve-O spoke with found troubling – as the act of deliberately tricking men into thinking he's a woman was planned so he could get footage of being "beaten up at the motorcycle rally", which he previously explained in July is part of doing a "funny endurance" stunt.  > “The show still has a bunch of really good comedy from that whole episode. And the extent to which I was prepared to go through with that is hilarious in its own right.” No, it's not. It's fucking unhinged, jackass.
edition.cnn.com
lol he was shot at again, this time while he was playing golf.
english.elpais.com
"These estimates do not directly correspond to job losses, but they do indicate that a large proportion of occupations are vulnerable, and that there is an opportunity to leverage the jobs that will be most affected. We must have a plan for the impact that AI could have,” says Eric Parrado, chief economist at the IDB and co-author of the index."
cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/3470083 > > BAMAKO, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger will introduce new biometric passports as part of their withdrawal from a West African bloc in favour of a new Sahel alliance after military leaders seized power in all three countries, Mali's leader said on Sunday. > > > > The three junta-led Sahel neighbours jointly announced in January they would leave the 15-member Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has sought to persuade them to reconsider their decision. > > > > Burkina Faso announced earlier this month that it was rolling out new passports without the ECOWAS logo. > > > > "In the coming days, a new biometric passport of the AES (Alliance of Sahel States) will be put into circulation with the aim of harmonising travel documents in our common area and facilitating the mobility of our citizens throughout the world", Malian junta leader Assimi Goita announced on Sunday evening. > > > > He spoke ahead of a meeting Monday between the three countries' foreign ministers on the anniversary of the decision to form their own alliance. > > Goita also said they were planning to launch a shared information channel "in order to promote a harmonious dissemination of information in our three states." > > > > ECOWAS has warned that the three countries' withdrawal would undermine the freedom of movement and common market of the 400 million people living in the 49-year-old bloc. > > > > Their departure comes as their armies battle groups linked to al Qaeda and Islamic State, whose insurgencies have destabilised the region over the past decade and threaten to spill over into coastal West African states.
Turns out the shooter was covered by NYT earlier > [With Legion growth stalling, Ryan Routh, a former construction worker from Greensboro, N.C., is seeking recruits from among Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban. Mr. Routh, who spent several months in Ukraine last year, said he planned to move them, in some cases illegally, from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine. He said dozens had expressed interest.](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/25/world/europe/volunteers-us-ukraine-lies.html)
web.archive.org
Most important part of these tariffs: "The trade rule allows packages to be shipped from foreign countries directly to consumers or businesses without paying tariffs, as long as the shipments do not exceed $800 per recipient per day. The new proposal would strip that exemption from a wide array of products and most likely have a significant impact on large importers of Chinese goods such as Shein and Temu, two online marketplaces that have become popular with American shoppers." This trade rule being taken advantage of by Aliexpress, Temu, and Shein is the sole reason why significant amounts of Americans could still afford to buy a lot of consumer goods despite having their real wages crash year after year. This would genuinely trigger another cost of living crisis
> With Legion growth stalling, Ryan Routh, a former construction worker from Greensboro, N.C., is seeking recruits from among Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban. Mr. Routh, who spent several months in Ukraine last year, said he planned to move them, in some cases illegally, from Pakistan and Iran to Ukraine. He said dozens had expressed interest. > “We can probably purchase some passports through Pakistan, since it’s such a corrupt country,” he said in an interview from Washington. > It is not clear whether he has succeeded, but one former Afghan soldier said he had been contacted and was interested in fighting if it meant leaving Iran, where he was living illegally.
thecradle.co
Tel Aviv's assassination of resistance commander Fuad Shukr came at a high cost for the apartheid regime. Snip: *Hezbollah’s retaliatory attack against two Israeli military and intelligence sites in late August resulted in dozens of casualties, European security sources told Al Mayadeen on 12 September.* *Operation Fortieth Day, as it was dubbed by the Lebanese resistance, targeted Glilot base – the headquarters of Israel’s Unit 8200 – and the Ein Shemer airbase.* *The operation was “substantially successful … with fatalities reaching 22 and 74 members injured,” Al Mayadeen cited the European sources as saying.*
theconversation.com
Looks like that one place in Greece probably *doesn't* have an exceptionally good life expectancy.
tankie.tube
cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/5678354
The Pentagon says the modelling must "include former Eastern Block [sic] countries" and "regions beyond eastern Europe and western Russia".
