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Yahoo News - Niger joins Mali in breaking diplomatic ties with Ukraine [06/08/24]

The West African nation of Niger is severing diplomatic relations with Ukraine, government spokesperson Amadou Abdramane announced on Aug. 6, two days after neighboring Mali made a similar announcement.

Mali broke diplomatic ties with Ukraine on Aug. 4 over its alleged support of Tuareg-led rebels, after reports that Malian soldiers and Wagner Group mercenaries suffered significant battle losses in recent clashes with anti-government groups.

Niger will cut ties with Kyiv "with immediate effect," Abdramane said in a televised statement.

In their announcement, Niger's government said it would issue a "referral to the United Nations Security Council with a view to ruling on Ukrainian aggression."

Andrii Yusov, Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) spokesperson, alluded to possible cooperation between Ukrainian intelligence services and the Mali rebels during a television broadcast on July 29.

Exciting to see the Ukraine will-they-won't-they intelligence from the states again

The new Bangladesh interim gov 'advisory council' is super sus

Advisory council members

1. Professor Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser

Chief neoliberal parasite, western puppet.

2. Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of BELA;

NGO Affiliated

3. Farida Akhtar, women's rights activist

NGO Affiliated

4. Adilur Rahman Khan, founder of Odhikar

NGO Affiliated

5. AFM Khalid Hossain, Hefazat-e-Islam nayeb-e-ameer and Islami Andolan Bangladesh adviser

Hefazat-e-Islam is a far right Islamist group

6. Nurjahan Begum, Grameen Telecom trustee

Grameen Telecom was created by Yunus

7. Sharmeen Murshid, freedom fighter

NGO Affiliated

8. Bir Pratik Faruk-e-Azam

Who?

9. Nahid Islam, DU student and key organiser of the Anti-Discrimination Students' Movement

10. Asif Mahmud, DU student and key organiser of the Anti-Discrimination Students' Movement

11. Salehuddin Ahmed, former governor of Bangladesh Bank

In 2020, Ahmed was appointed an independent director of ASA International.[11] He is one of the founders of the Centre for Advanced Research and Social Action, non-profit.[12] He is a member of the general committee of the NGO Forum.[13] He is an independent director of GrameenPhone.

12. Prof Asif Nazrul, Dhaka University law professor

13. Hasan Arif, former attorney general and adviser of Fakhruddin Ahmed-led caretaker government

Mr. Ariff was a resource person at the Continuing Legal Education Program and Human Rights Training Program of the Bangladesh Bar Council. He is a leading member of the International Business Forum of Bangladesh, a business community platform for advocating policy formulation at the government level.

14. Brigadier General (retired) M Sakhawat Hossain

Hossain was commissioned in the Pakistan Army in 1966 from PMA, Kakul. He joined the Bangladesh Army in 1972 upon that country's independence.

15. Supradip Chakma, chairman of Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board (CHTDB)

16. Prof Bidhan Ranjan Roy, director of the National Institute of Mental Health & Hospital's Department of Psychiatry

17. Touhid Hossain, former foreign secretary

In September 2021, Hossain was a guest presented at a seminar on disinformation and reporting for Bangladeshi journalists organized by the United States Agency for International Development. USAID

I’m back on my Starmer conspiracy brainworms, and this might be totally silly of me, but….

Assuming MI5 had him orchestrate the dismantling of the Labour left in anticipation of worsening material conditions over the next two decades and the potential rise of a robust British socialist movement, could an additional objective be to enact draconian authoritarian laws to suppress protests and enhance surveillance? He then bows out after a year or two with deep unpopularity but with strong protections for capital in place, to be replaced with Ed Milliband in an attempt to show “progressive” leadership.

Basically, given the last 10 years the last few days happening has been horribly predictable. If you’re a Gladio aficionado, you might be sympathetic to the conspiracy theory I’m leaning toward here.

Russian commentators: the present state of affairs is unacceptable! nuclear-tipped grand offensive now! mobilise all men to the front and women into the factories! assassinate every leading NATO head of state with hypersonic weaponry!

Putin: we are aware of a concerning situation in the Kursk oblast. we must remember Stalin's great and courageous leadership in these times and take heed. i have made funding available to the Bereznetzhov thermal optics factory to expand production by up to 30% by 2028 in light of this. we will not be intimidated by terrorists and the time of empty threats is over.

The Director of the Supply Department of the Civil Defense in Gaza, Mohammed Al-Mughair, confirmed that the Israeli forces used three lethal American missiles of the Mark 84 (MK-84) type, which weigh more than 2,000 pounds and reach temperatures of 7,000 degrees, in the bombing that targeted the Al-Tabi'een School and Mosque in the Al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza.

https://english.almasirah.net.ye/post/41756/American-Fingerprints-in-the-Al-Daraj-Massacre-in-Gaza

Here's to hoping that future events cement the fact that no one here should ever be put in charge of a military operation. Especially not me.

In a bright future I also hope for the opportunity for Iran Apology Form memes to crop up.

PIJ captured IOF spy drones. They also show footage last saved in the drones which include footage of the drone operators and other goons:
https://xcancel.com/TVFreePalestine/status/1822415378523271291

So the loser "succdem" (useless liberal) expresident from Argentina got accused (with a lot of public proof) of domestic violence, so that's the peak comedy here right now

I’ve been working a lot and haven’t caught up properly in awhile but what’s the deal with the delay with this Iranian response?

It seemed to me about a week ago that not only was it a sure thing, but there were also signals that this one was gonna be different as they were being a lot more guarded with their plans and it seemed like the prospect of war wasn’t even a dealbreaker.

Since then I’ve heard a lot of noise about how Iran has since tempered it’s potential response and seeks a response that doesn’t cross the line.

Perhaps there’s an internal debate within the Iranian elite upper echelons/military guys? I know the new Iranian president is from the more moderate wing and seeks closer ties to the west in the long run but I imagine the amount of pressure he’s under to not capitulate is extremely significant

Update: the US predicts that the sun will rise in the next 24 hours. Everybody should be on alert with suncream and a nice hat

oh, and also Iran will uh, do a missile attack in that time frame too. probably. yeah.

(EN) Yemeni army shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper plane with a home-made surface-to-air missile, while it was carrying out hostile actions in the Saada governorate. #Palestine #Gaza
Dated: 04/08/2024.

https://xcancel.com/TVFreePalestine/status/1820524800697311600

All of these flights in Iran are all United Arab Emirates flights as others have stopped flying.

EDIT: I tell a lie, I found one single Kuwait airliner in there too.

RT - Japanese PM makes no mention of US on Hiroshima anniversary [06/08/24]

During his address during a ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Tuesday, Kishida told attendees “79 years ago today, an atomic bomb deprived people said to number well more than 100,000 of their precious lives. It reduced the city to ashes and mercilessly deprived people of their dreams and bright futures. Even those who escaped death suffered hardships beyond description.”

However, the prime minister didn’t directly say which country was responsible for attacking the city with nuclear weapons and causing such “devastation and human suffering.”

“The widening division within the international community over approaches to nuclear disarmament, Russia’s nuclear threat, and other concerns make the situation surrounding nuclear disarmament all the more challenging,” he said.

The whole speech bore a lot of similarities to the address delivered by the Japanese prime minister a year ago, in which the US was also not mentioned.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also ignored the role of the US in the bombing of Hiroshima in his message dedicated to the anniversary. “We must not forget the lessons of August 6, 1945,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter), adding that nuclear weapons “represent a real and present danger.”

Who was the person in the last thread that said that China needs to switch to a more *consumer economy fast? Sounds like they listened.

https://www.semafor.com/article/08/05/2024/china-rolls-out-42-billion-stimulus-package-to-boost-domestic-demand

Latest Bhadrakumar piece, on Bangladesh. My summary:

Now ex-president Hasina has written a piece in the Economic Times, perhaps most notably commenting on how the US would have allowed her to remain in power if she had given up sovereignty of the Bay of Bengal, but she refused.

The man behind the colour revolution was Donald Lu, a veritable grim reaper stalking his way through Asia with all sorts of connections to the US. He was responsible for regime changes in Kyrgyzstan, Albania, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Pakistan (the ouster of Imran Khan, in that case) He visited Bangladesh in May and met with senior government officials, and his visit was quickly followed by sanctions on the Bangladesh army chief. Russia had warned Bangladesh about the gathering storm of US officials and interest, but their warnings were either unheeded, or the internal rot was already too deep and too many in the government hated Hasina and wanted her gone. Regardless, in the current situation, Russia is maintaining a policy of non-interference, merely hoping that whoever is elected will be nice to Russia (China's actions have been much the same).

Both India and China will be affected if Bangladesh collapses and becomes a failed state under neoliberal plundering. India must - or, at least, should - realize that the US is not their friend here. They have surrounded India with an unfriendly, US-backed Pakistan and an unfriendly, US-backed Bangladesh, as punishment for having too much of an independent foreign policy and goals (that is, they aren't totally subservient and kowtowing to Biden). India thinks they are equal partners to the US, and that the Americans will let them exercise their regional interests without interference. They are sorely mistaken.

A recent commentary in the Global Times has called for an easing of tensions given this new reality in order to jointly construct a more stable region, while the US seeks to heighten India-China tensions instead in order to try and achieve their own regional hegemony. Will India realize the situation they're in and give China a chance? Or will Modi's delusions of grandeur continue?

On his social media, Trump said, in a way that was completely disconnected from reality, that the audience at Kamala Harris' rally in an airport hangar in Detroit was actually the work of AI.

How Conflict in the Middle East Could Send Oil Prices Soaring

From the energy sector’s perspective, Iran could threaten to further disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 30 percent of all the world’s oil has historically transited. Similar threats in the past have caused big spikes in the oil price. A less direct threat would be using its Yemeni Houthi proxy forces to step up the level of attacks on oil shipping elsewhere around the Red Sea region, which would also put upward pressure on oil prices. The Houthis could also be used to launch direct attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil facilities, as the group threatened to do recently if Saudi Arabia continued to allow U.S. warplanes to use its territory for military strikes against the Yemeni rebel group.

Alternatively, Iran could widen out its previously called-for embargo by Islamic members of OPEC on oil exports to Israel’s allies as well as to Israel itself. This would mirror exactly what Saudi Arabia did in 1973/74 to countries that supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War with Egypt and Syria. As global oil supplies fell, the price increased dramatically, exacerbated by incremental cuts to oil production by OPEC members over the period. Gas prices also rose, as historically around 70 percent of them are comprised of the price of oil. By the end of the embargo in March 1974, the price of oil had risen around 267 percent, from about US$3 per barrel (pb) to nearly US$11 pb. This, in turn, stoked the fire of a global economic slowdown, especially felt in the net oil-importing countries of the West.

AI tech bubble bursting is just a feint to make an opening for the left hook of oil price shocks to take down the great Satan.

I foresee a very sudden shift towards restoring dialog with Russia in the Tarot cards.

Edit: although for the US gdp overall it would probably be a good thing since the US is currently a massive oil producer so the “the economy isn’t crashing” team would still claim victory I am sure, this would still simply wreck manufacturing & logistics & everything that is not directly related to causing earthquakes in Texas and Alberta.

It unequivocally sucks to be Europe, as it should be.

You can’t understand the genius of bidenomics, until you imagine debt increasing by 8 percent of gdp and economy by 3 as a recipe for success

Rise up Swifties, Taylor cancelled 3 shows in Vienna due to a terror threat:

Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour Vienna Shows Cancelled Due to Government Officials Confirmation of Planned Terrorist Attack

With confirmation from government officials of a planned terrorist attack at Ernst Happel Stadium, we have no choice but to cancel the three scheduled shows for everyone's safety.

All tickets will be automatically refunded within the next 10 business days.

So what's the deal with Bangladesh

Carl Zha on Twitter: So much for Israel's Iron Dome, Hezbollah rocket just hit a main road. More to come...

UK is recommending that UK airlines cease operations in Lebanese airspace due to military activity. This is in effect until November 4th.

https://xcancel.com/flightradar24/status/1821278351270826157

5AM in Tehran now, nothing ever happens

The Workers and Resources Biomes DLC rules but is also funny. I'm playing a freegame on "Asian map" and the clue really is in the name-according to what all the cities are called, this really is Asia: the Map. My main city is called something like Matsumatuo, then you cross the river to the coal mining town of Shihua, then head down the road a bit to scenic Haecho. I don't remember the names exactly but that is the exact language combo throughout city names: something vaguely Japanese, something vaguely Chinese, and something vaguely Korean, with an occasional fusion. Also there is not currently a second pool of names for people, so all the lumberjacks in the jungle and truck drivers hauling cloth and fish to market in 1940s Indiana Jones trucks are named things like Grigori Petrovich.

10/10 I should never have started on realistic mode

PSA : Comrads ! if you links something , and you have the link allready safed .. you can just mark the part of your text that you want to name the link after and then do the "Control+V" and it will instantlly make it a link. its super Smooth..

Rybar's take on the UK "slipping into totalitarianism" regarding perceived heavy handedness of the law on the race rioters.

Just LOL. Rybar will just ignore the years of propaganda that told UK citizens that there are migrants arriving on boats that bring all the crime and focus on the one week where the media had to turn it back or else they would be implicated in the proceedings. Nothing to see there I'm sure.

for their part is doing the right thing too late. Where were these arrests when Nigel Farage were making veiled threats at immigrants? The Sun has done more incitement than any FB post ever has.