Image depicts Bolivian trade unionists on strike in La Paz, Bolivia.
Long preamble/summary below of recent news events.
summary
The Iran ceasefire is grinding on. After a brief period over the weekend of heightened activity where it seemed that US strikes might be resuming, Trump announced a "Memorandum of Understanding" with Iran, which initially appeared to be an agreement along Iran's demands.
For those not following along with the diplomatic minutia, Iran's position for several weeks has been that the nuclear issue must be discussed separately - because, well, last time they started discussing the nuclear issue with the US, they got fucking bombed - and so have proposed a two-stage negotiation where the war is first officially ended with certain preconditions (e.g. the US has to end sanctions and unfreeze assets and presumably withdraw at least some military assets), and then the second stage will begin in which the nuclear issue is handled.
The reason why a deal has still not been signed after all this time is because the US disagrees with doing it this way, and wants the nuclear issue to be handled right away (and obviously also objects with things like Iran retaining control of the Strait). Therefore, Trump's announcement appeared to be him finally accepting reality, but it quickly became apparent that this was just another market manipulation. I'm definitely in the camp among several other analysts that believes another round of war is going to happen barring some very sudden circumstances (e.g. Trump being forced out of power one way or another, or Iran obtaining a nuke) because the US still seems agreement-incapable. And in Lebanon, consternation for the Zionists against Hezbollah's attacks continues as the FPV drone threat only continues to increase despite them desperately seeking countermeasures.
As I've been perhaps too focussed on Iran lately, here's a brief roundup of big news events from the last month or so.
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Orban losing power: Pretty cool, though his replacement being Neoliberal #2980329891 means that big changes seem unlikely.
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Strikes in Bolivia against that dipshit Paz: Very nice to see, as it appears that Bolivia has among the best widespread on-the-ground popular support for worker-centric policies and politicians in Latin America that makes it so they can genuinely pressure power (already, the Labor Minister has resigned).
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Situation in the Sahel: "Mysterious" third parties sponsored a big offensive against the AES which they largely repelled with help from Russia. The situation there is still a little tenuous as I understand it with a greater focus by anti-government forces on blockades of cities to cause internal revolts. This tactic is currently broadly failing as armed convoys are getting fuel and food into the cities, but figures like Traore are aware that more needs to be done.
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Ukraine War: Aside from the usual grinding advance by Russia on the front, there have been back-and-forth missile and drone strikes as Ukraine hit some targets in the outskirts of Moscow with drones and then Russia fired a shitload of missiles, including the iconic Oreshnik, directly at Kiev, as Simplicius and others have covered in greater detail.
I could go on and on with the recent aggressions against Cuba, Modi's recent victories in India and the AI/chip tech war between China and the US but this preamble has to end at some point due to the character limit.
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.
The Zionist Entity's Genocide of Palestine
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against the temporary Zionist entity. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA reports on the Zionists' 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.
Mirrors of Telegram channels that have been erased by Zionist censorship.
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.
A Danish pension fund has blacklisted SpaceX, calling it grossly overvalued with catastrophic governance
Article
Denmark’s AkademikerPension, which manages roughly $25 billion for academic professionals, has said it will not participate in SpaceX’s initial public offering or buy shares in any secondary-market transaction, according to Bloomberg. Chief investment officer Anders Schelde called the company “grossly overvalued” and cited what he described as a “catastrophic governance structure” as the primary reason for the exclusion.
The fund calculates that SpaceX cannot reasonably exceed a valuation of $1 trillion, roughly half the $1.8 trillion the company is targeting when marketing begins as soon as 4 June. Pricing could come as early as 11 June. AkademikerPension will also avoid indexed equity products that include SpaceX, meaning it is not simply skipping the IPO but actively excluding the stock from its entire portfolio.
The governance complaint Schelde’s objection centres on Elon Musk’s control over SpaceX. The company’s S-1 filing revealed that Musk holds roughly 85% of voting power through a dual-class share structure in which Class B shares carry ten votes each compared with one vote for the Class A shares being offered to the public. Musk simultaneously serves as chief executive, chief technology officer, and board chair.
That concentration of control means public shareholders will have no practical ability to influence company decisions. Musk can appoint a majority of the board and cannot be removed as CEO without his own consent. SpaceX will claim controlled-company status after listing, which exempts it from Nasdaq rules requiring a majority of independent directors.
Schelde described the arrangement as “exceptionally poor performance on governance matters” and said investors are being asked to accept an “unprecedentedly low risk premium” for a company with this level of management entrenchment.
Not alone in the concern AkademikerPension is a relatively small player in global capital markets, but its concerns echo those of far larger institutions. In May, the heads of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the New York City Retirement Systems, and the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which collectively manage more than $1 trillion, sent a joint letter to Musk calling SpaceX’s governance “extreme.”
The letter described the IPO as featuring “the most management-favorable governance structure ever brought to the US public markets at this scale.” The pension fund leaders objected to Musk’s veto power over his own removal, the use of mandatory arbitration for shareholder claims, and the company’s reincorporation in Texas, which requires shareholders to hold up to 3% of outstanding stock to bring certain legal actions.
A pattern of activist divestment AkademikerPension has a track record of using its portfolio to make governance and political statements. Earlier this year the fund sold its remaining 200 shares in Tesla, citing Musk’s role in what it described as destroying the brand and its value, along with concerns about worker treatment and board independence.
In January 2026 the fund dumped approximately $100 million in US Treasuries, with Schelde saying the US government is “not a good credit” and that its long-term finances are unsustainable. The move came during heightened tensions between Washington and Copenhagen over Greenland, though Schelde said the decision was not directly related to the diplomatic rift.
What it means for the IPO One pension fund with $25 billion in assets declining to participate will not materially affect a $75 billion capital raise. SpaceX has allocated an unusually large 30% of the offering to retail investors, and demand from individual buyers is expected to be substantial regardless of institutional governance objections.
The question is whether the concerns shared by AkademikerPension and the US pension fund coalition represent a broader pattern that could weigh on pricing or long-term institutional ownership. At $1.8 trillion, SpaceX would trade at roughly 96 times its 2025 revenue of $18.7 billion, a multiple that assumes years of hypergrowth from Starlink satellite internet and the xAI artificial intelligence division.
SpaceX lost $4.94 billion last year after absorbing xAI, and Musk’s track record of ambitious but capital-intensive programmes means the burn rate is unlikely to slow soon. For investors who share AkademikerPension’s view that the company is worth half its asking price, the governance structure makes it impossible to push for changes from the inside. The only option is to stay out.
Business Insider - We asked four market pros whether they'd buy SpaceX stock at its IPO
The case for buying SpaceX is that you too can steal from pension funds.
SpaceX insiders will get to sell shares earlier than usual after the IPO
The biggest rug pull in history is just a few days away.
Imagine the US stock market deciding to just do an Enron, just for fun, in the weeks before an oil shock hits.
AkkkademikkkerPension, they'e calling it the whitest pension fund in the world