this post was submitted on 23 Dec 2024
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Happy holidays, fellow godless communists. We are in year three of the Five-Year Plan to eliminate all Christmas cheer and create a world free of the joys and festivity of Christmas. Nobody should have to be reminded that in our concrete brutalist communist strongholds, NO ornaments are allowed in December. Please report any Christmas trees, snowflakes, baubles, and presents to the evil secret police, and anybody caught violating their Volcel Pledge by having a tentative kiss under a mistletoe will be shot on sight.

Developments lately have been grim. Our Supreme Communist Dictator Brandon is being removed from office by Christmas-loving patriots, and soon, Christmas will adorn the White House for another four years. This is obviously very disappointing, but while Christmas joy is strictly prohibited, good vibes are still strongly encouraged. Revolutionary optimism (a term we only bring out when things are going very badly and we need to be delusional) shall triumph over defeatist rhetoric by stooges of the Christmas regime.

We must have hope. Our foreign allies aiding us in destroying Christmas now possess hypersonic weaponry, allowing us to compete with and overcome the engine technology powering Santa's sleigh. Abroad, they have destroyed factories and hit cities with missiles travelling at unimaginable speeds into precise targets, while the Christmas regime struggles to produce their own such missiles, as they are still reliant on aircraft bombing campaigns. Precision has a quality all its own, or something along those lines. We just have to hold out another two years or so, and I swear to you: we will live in a world without this accursed holiday.

No current struggle session discussion here in the news megathread please, you will be banned from the comm and your comment will be removed.


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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.


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[–] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 61 points 6 months ago (1 children)

China Sent Emergency Humanitarian Aid to Gaza via Egypt - Telesur English

Article

“To alleviate humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, the Chinese government has continued to provide assistance,” said Liao, reiterating China’s willingness to maintain close communication and coordination with Palestine and Egypt in this effort.

In a significant gesture of support, China has dispatched two packages of emergency humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, signing the necessary documents at a ceremony held on Monday in Cairo.

The Chinese embassy in Egypt confirmed the news, highlighting the commitment of the Chinese government to alleviate the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinian enclave.

Chinese Ambassador to Egypt, Liao Liqiang, and his Palestinian counterpart, Diab al-Louh, were present at the signing, where Liao stressed that China has been providing humanitarian assistance to Palestine, including food and medicine.

“To alleviate humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip, the Chinese government has continued to provide assistance,” said Liao, reiterating China’s willingness to maintain close communication and coordination with Palestine and Egypt in this effort.

The Palestinian ambassador expressed the sincere gratitude of the Palestinian people and government for the emergency humanitarian aid sent by China.

Al-Louh also highlighted China’s continued support for the Palestinian cause in international forums, emphasizing the “deep friendship” between both nations and China’s role as a “great responsible country.” This aid delivery comes at a critical time for Gaza, where the population is facing severe difficulties due to recent conflicts.

China’s humanitarian assistance reflects the growing international commitment to address the urgent needs of those affected by war and underscores the importance of cooperation among nations in times of crisis.

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[–] Evilphd666@hexbear.net 61 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Telegram link

Video shows Zionazi automated robots placing explosive boxes at the gates of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.

[–] bbnh69420@hexbear.net 60 points 6 months ago

IOF today don’t know how to fight, all they do is sit in air-conditioned room, use Xbox controllers, plant bombs and drop missiles, eat hot chip, and hasbara

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[–] totalyNOTaPIRATE@hexbear.net 61 points 6 months ago (5 children)

Not even a month

Hundreds protest in Christian areas of Syrian capital after Christmas tree burned

Demonstrations flare after video spread on social media showing hooded fighters setting fire to tree Agence France-Presse in Damascus and Reuters Tue 24 Dec 2024 11.48 GMT

Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in Christian areas of Damascus early on Tuesday to protest against the burning of a Christmas tree near Hama in central Syria, Agence France-Presse journalists witnessed.

“We demand the rights of Christians,” protesters chanted as they marched through the Syrian capital towards the headquarters of the Orthodox patriarchate in the Bab Sharqi neighbourhood.

The protests come a little more than two weeks after an armed coalition led by Islamists toppled the government of Bashar al-Assad, who had cast himself as a protector of minorities in the Sunni-majority country.

A demonstrator who gave his name as Georges told AFP he was protesting “injustice against Christians”.

“If we’re not allowed to live our Christian faith in our country, as we used to, then we don’t belong here any more,” he said.

The protests erupted after a video spread on social media showing hooded fighters setting fire to a Christmas tree in the Christian-majority town of Suqaylabiyah, near Hama.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the fighters were foreigners from the Islamist group Ansar al-Tawhid.

In another video posted to social media, a religious leader from Syria’s victorious Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) addressed local people, claiming those who torched the tree were “not Syrian” and promising they would be punished. “The tree will be restored and lit up by tomorrow morning,” he said.

The Islamist HTS movement, rooted in al-Qaida and supported by Turkey, has promised to protect minorities since its lightning offensive toppled Assad this month after years of stalemate.

Turkey’s interior minister said on Tuesday that more than 25,000 Syrians had returned home from Turkey since Assad was ousted. Turkey is home to nearly 3 million refugees who fled the civil war that broke out in 2011, and whose presence has been an issue for President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government.

“The number of people returning to Syria in the last 15 days has exceeded 25,000,” Ali Yerlikaya told the official Anadolu news agency. Ankara is in close touch with Syria’s new leaders and focusing on the voluntary return of Syrian refugees, hoping the shift in power in Damascus will allow many of them to head home.

The US military said on Monday it conducted an airstrike in Syria that killed two Islamic State operatives and wounded one. The IS operatives were moving a truckload of weapons in Dayr az Zawr province, an area formerly controlled by the Syrian government and Russians, when they were targeted with the airstrike, US Central Command said in a statement on X.

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[–] imogen_underscore@hexbear.net 61 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (6 children)

Macron announces France's fourth government in a year

this fucking guy.

Both Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu and Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot kept their jobs, the presidency said.

Mr Lecornu, a 38-year-old loyalist with a keen political nose, has served in every government since Mr Macron's first election as president in 2017.

Conservative Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who has vowed to crackdown on illegal immigration, and right-wing Culture Minister Rachida Dati, also stayed in their posts.

Mr Bayrou had hoped to bring in figures from the left, right and centre to protect his government from possible censure, but his 35-member team does not include any members of the left-wing coalition New Popular Front.

Just before the official announcement, right-wing politician Xavier Bertrand, who had been tipped for the health ministry, announced he would not be part of the government.

He alleged that it had been formed with the implicit "backing" of far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who will play a key role in ensuring its survival.

shocked-pikachu

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[–] borschtisgarbo@lemmygrad.ml 61 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (14 children)

Zionist invasion of Egypt in 1... 2...

Israel accuses Egypt of violating peace treaty, worried about Egypt's "growing military strength"

David Govrin, Israel’s former ambassador to Cairo, has accused Egypt of breaching the peace treaty between the two countries and warned Tel Aviv about Egypt’s growing military strength, Sama reported, citing Yedioth Ahronoth.

In an interview with the Israeli news site, Govrin claimed that Egypt is investing significant sums in military enhancement and violating the military annexe of the peace agreement.

Govrin served as Israel’s ambassador to Egypt from 2016 to 2019 and, as of November 2021, was Israel’s first ambassador to Morocco before retiring from the Foreign Ministry.

Govrin alleged: “There is no doubt that Egypt is breaching the military annexe of the peace treaty. It has deployed a larger number of military forces in Sinai than permitted under the agreement and beyond what Israel approved, citing its recent requests to combat terrorism in Sinai.”

READ: Israel PM Netanyahu is not visiting Cairo, Egypt source says

He also warned that Egypt is heavily investing in its military capabilities despite its struggling economy and the absence of external threats.

“There is substantial investment in military and civilian infrastructure east of the Suez Canal,” he said. “Israel must take Egypt’s military capabilities into account and not rely on good intentions or shared interests. These can change quickly.”

Discussing Egypt’s attitude towards Israel, Govrin remarked: “On one hand, there is hostility and resentment, as Israel is perceived as an imperialist entity, a foreign implant, and an artificial creation.”

Govrin concluded his interview with Yedioth Ahronoth by saying: “After all these years, and even after 7 October 2023, questions remain about Egypt’s genuine recognition of Israel within its 1948 borders.”

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241224-ex-israel-envoy-accuses-egypt-of-breaching-peace-deal/

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[–] sisatici@hexbear.net 61 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Lmao chuds are furious at El*n musk. He said country needs white collar immigrants and the chuds are fuming "NOOOOO! MUH ETHNOSTATE! YOU TRAITOOOOOR!!!"

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[–] bbnh69420@hexbear.net 60 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

Further protests by Christians outraged at the burning of a shrine to Abu Abdullah bin Hamdan Al-Khasibi in Aleppo. At least 2 have been murdered by the militants. Turns out treading the middle ground between Al-Nusra and everybody else doesn’t “protect minorities,” it just gives official cover to vigilante sectarian violence.

https://t.me/DarEQuds/5052

Personally I’d save my anti-Christian action for after December, just to be safe, but I guess that’s why I don’t run Syria

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[–] FuckyWucky@hexbear.net 60 points 6 months ago
[–] thethirdgracchi@hexbear.net 59 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Hot on the heels of Beijing's fancy new sixth generation fighter aircraft reveals this week China has also unveiled the world's largest amphibious assault ship. Just to underscore how impressive this is, the PLA only started designing the ship four years ago, and they've now already built the first model. The class of ship is a very clear signal to Washington that China has the means to invade and capture Taiwan if they desire.

Although the exact specifications of the fighter prototypes remain unclear and it could be years from entering service, the test flights and launch of the amphibious assault ship underscored Beijing’s rapid production of new military hardware. It also comes at a time when capacity bottlenecks have started to constrain the expansion of Washington’s military arsenal.

The People’s Liberation Army started tendering for the design and construction of the new amphibious ship, which is called Type 076, just four years ago. The PLA Navy has three amphibious assault ships, the first of which only entered service in 2021.

The new class is not only much larger than those of its Type 075 predecessor, and can carry more aircraft or amphibious landing vessels on a lower deck. It is also equipped with an electromagnetic launch system, suggesting large drones and even crewed fighter aircraft can take off from its deck. Traditional amphibious assault ships typically only carry helicopters.

Source: https://archive.is/LwcNb

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[–] xiaohongshu@hexbear.net 59 points 6 months ago (7 children)

By the way, I absolutely do not accept the irony regarding Putin's statement that military tasks in Syria were solved brilliantly by Russia. They were solved brilliantly at that time. No irony. Russia preserved Syria as a state and gave it 8 years of a quiet life.

But circumstances tend to change, and those who, resting on their laurels, do not feel this, lose. Putin won the war in Syria, but lost the peace. The saddest thing is that such a matrix can be reproduced today (as it is regularly reproduced with dreary predetermination) with Ukraine.

You can win the war but still lose the peace. Can Putin keep the peace in Ukraine? That’s the question.

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[–] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 58 points 6 months ago (3 children)

China has sanctioned seven American military companies and their senior executives in response to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, including Insitu Inc., Raytheon Canada, Raytheon Australia, and Hudson Technologies Co.

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[–] TheLepidopterists@hexbear.net 58 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (9 children)

@Redcuban1959@hexbear.net, I didn't have a chance to respond to you before the last thread was locked. With regard to the Unification Church,

They believe that due to Japanese imperialism in Korea, all Japanese people have "negative ancestral karma."

This can only be corrected via ruinous financial donations to the unification church, which is what happened to Tetsuya Yamagami's mother.

I don't think this put them at odds with the Japanese government at all to be clear, which is why it continued for so long prior to Abe's assassination.

As far as the DPRK goes they're definitely extremely Anti-Communist, however, they are also pro-reunification of Korea. I'm not sure exactly where that lands them on any given issue, but there is a reason that they have a lot of CIA ties.

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[–] borschtisgarbo@lemmygrad.ml 58 points 6 months ago (7 children)

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-netanyahu-have-prostate-removed-after-diagnosis-benign-prostate-2024-12-28/

Dec 28 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will go into hospital to have his prostate removed on Sunday after he was diagnosed with a urinary tract infection resulting from a benign prostate enlargement, his office said.

PLEASE GOD SMITE THIS DEVIL DOWN ONCE AND FOR ALL 🙏🙏🙏

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[–] bbnh69420@hexbear.net 58 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

Another massacre allegedly perpetrated in the Homs countryside. Any talk of “continuing to Al-Quds” has evaporated as the new government instead focuses its violence and persecution on Syrians while making peace with its backers in Jerusalem who take credit for toppling the regime

https://t.me/ASSYRIA11/47731

https://t.me/ASSYRIA11/47693

https://t.me/ASSYRIA11/47729

https://t.me/ASSYRIA11/47691

Cw blood https://t.me/ASSYRIA11/47722

Cw gore, killing, torture https://t.me/syrianchristian/440

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[–] xiaohongshu@hexbear.net 58 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Denmark boosts Greenland defence after Trump repeats desire for US control

The Danish government has announced a huge boost in defence spending for Greenland, hours after US President-elect Donald Trump repeated his desire to purchase the Arctic territory.

Danish Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the package was a "double digit billion amount" in krone, or at least $1.5bn (£1.2bn).

He described the timing of the announcement as an "irony of fate". On Monday Trump said ownership and control of the huge island was an "absolute necessity" for the US.

I don’t know if they already planned to do this beforehand and just leaned into Trump’s remarks, but in any case Trump just gave Denmark the excuse to do more austerity by spending more money into military.

The end result is still the same though: more public assets get privatized and eventually sold to foreign capital.

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[–] bbnh69420@hexbear.net 57 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (8 children)

With the escalation in Jenin, the resistance threatens suicide bombings while the PA deploys RPGs

https://t.me/jeninnews1/130304

https://t.me/jeninnews1/130306

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[–] QuillcrestFalconer@hexbear.net 55 points 6 months ago

Israel Vows to Assassinate Houthi Leaders Amid Intensifying Airstrikes in Yemen

https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/israel-vows-assassinate-houthi-leaders-yemen-airstrikes

[–] Boise_Idaho@hexbear.net 55 points 6 months ago (9 children)

https://xcancel.com/nodutdol/status/1873462671909224508

This week, reports confirmed South Korea’s Intelligence Command purchased over 200 DPRK (North Korea) military uniforms back in July. Lawmakers allege Yoon's plan was to kill those dissenting from martial law and deceive people into thinking the DPRK had attacked South Korea.

Since Yoon declared martial law on Dec 3, many reports and testimonies in parliament have alleged Yoon planned to restart the Korean War. Some reports are even alleging plans to attack US soldiers and bases as part of false flag operations.

https://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/View/at_pg.aspx?CNTN_CD=A0003089942 (Korean news site)

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[–] bbnh69420@hexbear.net 55 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Syria recap:

Alleged HTS commander calls for ethnic cleansing to be hidden and not filmed. Any Arabic speakers that can confirm the words? Obviously we’ve seen fake recordings in the past, so I’m being decently skeptical

https://t.me/Alomhoar/58377

In retrospect the faked calls were from Israel and I’m not sure Iran needs to make HTS look bad, so leaning towards real. Not that it’s stopping them from filming atrocities

Cw assault allegedly based on being alawite https://t.me/Alomhoar/58381

https://t.me/Alomhoar/58384

Same cw as above, but for being Shia

https://t.me/Alomhoar/58385

Former Syrian officers handed over by the Lebanese state after illegally crossing the border to escape HTS https://t.me/Alomhoar/58383

Context on the above https://t.me/alakhbar_english/12054

Israel got exactly what they wanted here

~~Reported ethnic cleansing of Christians in Maaloula by people who had previously been prevented from entering the city by Bashar~~

Apparently being exaggerated. Keeping up for posterity as there are definitely aggressions against the Christians in Maaloula https://t.me/syrianchristian/500

https://t.me/syrianchristian/502

[–] Boise_Idaho@hexbear.net 54 points 6 months ago (5 children)

https://xcancel.com/OllieVargas79/status/1873038022406808043

This is how Evo Morales travels now. A convoy of union members, bigger than what the US secret service gives Netanyahu at the UN.

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[–] bbnh69420@hexbear.net 54 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

In Ramallah, a rally organized by the DFLP to support the resistance in Jenin and calling for unity in confronting the occupation https://t.me/jeninnews1/130513

[–] MarmiteLover123@hexbear.net 54 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Another ballistic missile, or multiple missiles, from Yemen was fired at Israel last night, with high altitude interceptions visible. Not exoatmospheric as that would produce a bluish to purple tinted explosion and not the orange explosion seen on video, but high altitude within the atmosphere. There were videos of the interception and debris falling down.

Video of interception

Xcancel mirror

Video of debris

Xcancel mirror

[–] VILenin@hexbear.net 54 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Some more self-important ravings from US-imperial chihuahua Estonia:

Politico: Estonia’s city at the ‘end of the free world’ stares across a frozen border at Russia

Selected excerpts

NARVA, Estonia — This snow-covered border bridge between two medieval fortresses in a Russian-speaking corner of Estonia might be where World War III starts.

"We are not intending to start a third world war, but we see the constant attempts to provoke us to do something which would have a higher impact," said Egert Belitšev, the director general of Estonia’s Police and Border Guard Board, on a snowy December afternoon in Narva.

Few countries lust for WWIII more than Estonia.

About a quarter of Estonia's population of 1.4 million is ethnic Russian. Most hold Estonian citizenship and a majority feel close ties to Estonia, but the Kremlin is a past master of exploiting ethnic differences to claim a special role in protecting the Russian diaspora. It's done that in Georgia and Moldova and that was the pretext for its invasion of Ukraine.

A couple thousand murdered ethnic Russians in Ukraine might have something to say about that “pretext” if they weren’t murdered.

The worry is that the Kremlin could play the same card and try to seize eastern Estonia, with its large population of ethnic Russians, and then dare NATO to launch a global war in response. A failure to react would show that NATO's Article 5 common defense provision is meaningless.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin even suggested in 2022, not long after Moscow launched its all-out war on Ukraine, that Narva is historically part of Russia.

frothingfash ALL PUT WAR! ALL OUT WAR! PUTLER ALL OUT WAR!!!

Narva, the third-largest city in Estonia, is closer to St. Petersburg than it is to Tallinn. Of its roughly 56,000 inhabitants, 96 percent speak Russian and a third hold a Russian passport

Took a while to bring up this extremely important figure, huh.

Describing the city as "the end of the free world,” Belitšev, an ethnic-Estonian security official, doesn't think Estonia's NATO allies are prepared for what might happen here.

There are some 900 British soldiers deployed in the country as part of a multinational NATO force at the Tapa air base west of Tallinn; France also has troops there. The British government has pledged to have its 4th Brigade Combat Team on stand-by for rapid deployment. NATO has created battlegroups in most eastern member countries, and plans to expand those groups in Latvia and Lithuania. It hasn't made that commitment in Estonia due to a shortfall in the British Army, which has only two armored brigades available.

lol this irrelevant imperial pet would be steamrolled within hours if any world war were to actually break out

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[–] Lovely_sombrero@hexbear.net 53 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Dems are going as hard right-wing on Cuba as the Republicans in order to win Florida. Not only did they suffer huge losses in Florida anyway, two Dem state reps have switched party to Republican this week, one just announced it a few hours ago. Republicans have a supermajority in Florida now, lmao. Something that also helped the Dems lose this year was not even having a Dem primary in Florida, instead just directly rewarding Biden the win. There were lots of state elections on the same day and Democrats lost a lot of local races because the Florida Dems depressed their own turnout by not having a Dem primary on the same day. But hey, at least Joe Biden got 100% of the Florida Dem primary vote in 2024, congrats!

[–] Frogmanfromlake@hexbear.net 53 points 6 months ago (7 children)

It’s always depressing whenever I’m reminded that outside of the Mayan culture, Guatemala’s only major modern contribution to the world is the invention of the Happy Meal.

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[–] totalyNOTaPIRATE@hexbear.net 53 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Syrian forces suffer 14 fatalities in countryside clashes

Transitional administration said 10 police members also wounded by ‘remnants’ of Assad regime in Tartous Reuters Wed 25 Dec 2024 23.35 GMT

Fourteen members of the Syrian police were killed in an “ambush” by forces loyal to the ousted government in the Tartous countryside, the transitional administration said early on Thursday, as demonstrations and an overnight curfew elsewhere marked the most widespread unrest since Bashar al-Assad’s removal more than two weeks ago.

Syria’s new interior minister said on Telegram that 10 police members were also wounded by what he called “remnants” of the Assad government in Tartous, vowing to crack down on “anyone who dares to undermine Syria’s security or endanger the lives of its citizens”.

Earlier, Syrian police imposed an overnight curfew in the city of Homs, state media reported, after unrest there linked to demonstrations that residents said were led by members of the minority Alawite and Shi’ite Muslim religious communities.

Reuters could not immediately confirm the demands of the demonstrators nor the degree of disturbance that took place.

Some residents said the demonstrations were linked to pressure and violence in recent days aimed at members of the Alawite minority, a sect long seen as loyal to Assad, who was toppled by Sunni Islamist rebels on 8 December.

Spokespersons for Syria’s new ruling administration led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, a former al-Qaida affiliate, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the curfew.

State media said the curfew was being imposed for one night, from 6pm local time (1500 GMT) until 8am on Thursday morning.

The country’s new leaders have repeatedly vowed to protect minority religious groups, who fear the former rebels now in control could seek to impose a conservative form of Islamist government.

Small demonstrations also took place in other areas on or near Syria’s coast, where most of the country’s Alawite minority live, including in Tartous.

The demonstrations took place about the time an undated video was circulated on social networks showing a fire inside an Alawite shrine in the city of Aleppo, with armed men walking about inside and posing near human bodies.

The interior ministry said on its official Telegram account the video dated back to the rebel offensive on Aleppo in late November and the violence was carried out by unknown groups, adding whoever was circulating the video now appeared to be seeking to incite sectarian strife.

The ministry also said some members of the former regime had attacked interior ministry forces in Syria’s coastal area on Wednesday, leaving a number of dead and wounded.

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[–] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 53 points 6 months ago (6 children)

South Korea plane with 181 onboard veers off runway and hits fence, local media report - The Guardian

Emergency services responded to calls at 9am at Muan international airport in South Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported

An aircraft carrying 175 passengers and six flight attendants has veered off the runway and crashed into a fence in South Korea, the Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday.

Yonhap said 23 casualties had been reported so far and that rescues were underway from Jeju Air flight 2216 from Bangkok. Large plumes of smoke could be seen rising into the sky in early unverified images emerging on social media. Emergency services received the call at Muan international airport in South Jeolla Province at around 9am.

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[–] whatdoiputhere12@hexbear.net 53 points 6 months ago (5 children)

On todays no shit news

Support for Ukraine ‘until it wins’ falls sharply in western Europe, poll finds

https://archive.is/trbPO

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[–] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 53 points 6 months ago

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom gave an interview to Reuters on Friday about the Israeli bombing that almost killed him during Christmas week. “I wasn't sure I would survive”

Tedros said he was frightened by a civilian structure being the target of a military attack and that “the slightest deviation” could have hit the WHO and UN staff hard. Tedros and Guterres, heads of the WHO and UN, have said that civilian structures should never be the target of military attacks.

On December 26, Yemen's international airport was hit by an Israeli bombardment. Israel, as usual, said it was attacking “military targets”. The target in question: the command tower of the (civilian) international airport in Sana.

[–] CleverOleg@hexbear.net 52 points 6 months ago (12 children)

Summary of recent events in Gaza, per Al-Jazeera:

Israeli artillery has shelled the third floor of the al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza’s besieged Jabalia refugee camp, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.

The Israeli army has detonated remote-controlled explosives in the barely functioning Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Beit Lahiya, injuring at least 20 patients and medical staff.

Also in Beit Lahiya, Israeli soldiers are forcing wounded and sick people to leave the Indonesian Hospital, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

At least 21 people have been killed and 51 injured across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to the Ministry.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 45,338 Palestinians and wounded 107,764 since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day, and more than 200 were taken captive.

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[–] geikei@hexbear.net 50 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (4 children)

In some huge news we \have footage of what probably is the maiden flight of China's 6th Generation manned fighter/bomber aircraft, and the first one of its kind that has been caught on camera (unclear if the US has even flown a working prototype of their current design, whatever that might be after a dozen requirement revisions). Flown on the birthday of the great helmsman, Mao Zedong no less. (links at the end)

One of the most (only) credible PLA watchers in western circles is posting about it (RickJoe_PLA on twitter, PLARealTalk on reddit) so its most likely legit. The obvious implication here is that China has overtaken the US in terms of next-gen airframe development. This publically flew before NGAD or F/A-XX (US) the status of which is very unclear, and you can argue that this is proof that China now holds the lead in next-gen R&D. For reference F-35, F-22 (US) , Su-57 (Russia), J-20 and J-35(China) are the only 5th Gen platforms around. Based on past timetables an optimistic guess is that this might enter service in 2029-31

Copying some of the stuff posted around. It is seen flown alongside a J-20S as a chaseplane. Not an expert but ppl seem to notice it to be 3 engined, quite big and thin relative to size. J-20 is already decently voluminous as fighters go , but the "J-XD" alongside looks like it's a whole other level. Even with three engines, this thing will have a lot of internal volume to play around with, whatever its role might be.

https://x.com/RickJoe_PLA/status/1872197785040359930

https://x.com/Rational314159/status/1872198848455815332

https://x.com/RupprechtDeino/status/1872210704914366565

https://x.com/RupprechtDeino/status/1872207504807272541

https://x.com/RupprechtDeino/status/1872202725439778856

EDIT: Unconfirmed as of right now, but it seems like Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (They developed the j-35, Chengdu AC developed the j-20 and the 6th Gen this post is about. Both practicaly different divisions under state owned umbrella company AVIC) might have also flown something similar this week. Likely a second distinct 6th Gen platform on a similar stage of development!!

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