Image is of the Power of Siberia natural gas pipeline, which transports gas from Russia to China. This isn’t an oil pipeline (such as the ESPO) but I thought it looked cool. Source here.
Trump has recently proposed a 500% tariff on goods from countries that trade with Russia, including India and China (who buy ~70% of Russia’s oil output), as well as a 10% additional tariff on goods from countries that “align themselves with BRICS.” Considering that China is the largest trading partner of most of the countries on the planet at this point, and India and Brazil are reasonably strong regional players, I’m not sure what exactly “alignment” means, but it could be pretty bad.
Sanctions and tariffs on Russian products have been difficult to achieve in practice. It’s easy to write an order to sanction Russia, but much harder to actually enforce these sorts of things because of, for example, the Russian shadow oil fleet, or countries like Kazakhstan acting as covert middlemen (well, as covert as a very sudden oil export boom can be).
Considering that China was pretty soundly victorious last time around, I’m cautiously optimistic, especially because China and India just outright cutting off their supply of energy and fuel would be catastrophic to them (and if Iran and Israel go to war again any time in the near future, it’ll only be more disastrous). Barring China and India kowtowing to Trump and copying Europe vis-a-vis Nordstream 2 (which isn’t impossible, I suppose), the question is whether China and India will appear to accede to these commands while secretly continuing trade with Russia through middlemen, or if they will be more defiant in the face of American pressure.
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.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
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.
Lol even BBC news (tv) is saying that the 500% tariffs against anyone trading with Russia are not going to happen because it would mean Russian oil/gas would have to completely come off the international market and it would cripple supply globally.
Iranian president injured in June [zionist] airstrikes
The IOF struck Masoud Pezeshkian’s underground bunker during last month’s war, Fars News Agency reports
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was slightly injured during “israeli” airstrikes on a bunker last month, according to Iranian state-affiliated outlet Fars.
The June 16 strike reportedly involved six bombs targeting access points to a secret underground facility in western Tehran, where Pezeshkian and other top officials were attending a meeting of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
Fars said on Saturday the blasts cut power to the facility, forcing the president to flee through an emergency shaft, during which he sustained leg injuries.
The outlet claimed the operation was modeled after the September 2024 strikes in Beirut that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
In an interview with Tucker Carlson he claimed the zionists tried to assassinate him. The zionists have not commented. It’s likely IMO they did and only failed because of their lack of ability to get close with larger bombs. Also they were totally serious about killing Khomeini and Iran is so incredibly compromised by zionist/US intelligence that the only reason they weren’t able to attempt that is he went totally off-grid, his own top government people unable to get in direct contact with him during critical hours because of this.
Iran says IAEA inspectors planted spy chips in their shoes
Iran has accused inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of espionage, saying they planted hidden surveillance chips in their shoes during inspections of Iranian nuclear facilities.
The accusation was made by Mahmoud Nabavian, Deputy Chair of Iran’s Parliamentary National Security Committee, who said the discovery of the chips proved the inspectors’ involvement in intelligence activities.
Nabavian also held IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi responsible for leaking confidential Iranian reports to Israel.
In an interview with Fars News Agency, Nabavian asserted that IAEA agents are “undoubtedly spies,” and that confidential documents were leaked to US and Israeli media even before being reviewed within the agency.
He stressed that Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA will remain limited and under the supervision of its Supreme National Security Council
Trump to announce “aggressive” Ukraine weapons plan tomorrow - Axios
Key takeaway:
Two sources told Axios they had reason to believe the plan was likely to include long-range missiles that could reach targets deep inside Russian territory, including Moscow. However, neither was aware of any final decision.
Trump told reporters Sunday evening that the weapons he would send Ukraine through European countries would include "various pieces of very sophisticated military (equipment)… Video here
Missiles with the range to hit Moscow from Ukraine means missiles with more than 500km range. That excludes a lot of weapons if this happens. The four potential missiles in the US arsenal are:
- Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM). Subsonic low altitude surface to surface cruise missile. Range 1300-2500km, depending on variant.
- Standard Missile-6 (SM-6), surface to air and surface to surface supersonic missile. Range of 500km possible in a surface to surface role.
- AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Extended Range (JASSM-ER), Stealthy high altitude air to surface cruise missile. Range of around 1000km.
- Precision Strike Missile (PrSM). Surface to surface ballistic missile. Range of over 500km.
If this goes ahead and if it refers to US made weapons (I have significant doubts), a possibility is Typhon launchers with TLAM and SM-6 missiles, which are set to be deployed to Germany next year. The first TLAMs were used over three decades ago during the Gulf War, not exactly new technology. SM-6 missiles would also give Ukrainian air defence the capability to engage Russian aircraft at much longer ranges then they currently can, (SM-6 max range is 370km in a surface to air role), and an ability to engage time sensitive targets in the ground at long range due to the high speed of the missile (3.5 Mach). The Typhon launcher can launch both of these. TLAMs can also be launched from the “ROGUE-Fires”, a 4 wheeled unmanned ground vehicle capable of launching a single TLAM.
If JASSM is included, it would be quite concerning as it’s a stealth cruise missile that can fly at high altitude, the only known missile with this capability. (most stealthy cruise missiles use a combination of low altitude and stealth to radar and IR sensors). Russian and Syrian air defences (using Russian equipment) failed to shoot down a single JASSM stealth cruise missile during US attacks on Syria. PrSM could also be concerning given the range and ballistic vector. Again, I have significant doubts, but unlike the SM-6 and TLAM, Ukraine already has the equipment needed to launch these missiles, F-16 fighter aircraft and M142 HIMARS trucks.
More likely I can see other weapons which have already been delivered, like ATACMS ballistic missiles and Storm Shadow subsonic stealth low altitude cruise missiles, being delivered again.
However, no one should be surprised if we see TLAMs and JASSMs flying into Russian military bases in the coming weeks. This is very much a possibility.
Russian forces recently liberated the Donetsk People’s Republic settlement of Karl Marx. Note, the Kiev regime, as part of its anti-communist propaganda campaign, renamed this settlement “Mirnoye” in 2016, but now it is once again Karl Marx. The DPR does not recognize the Kiev regime’s name changes: https://tass.com/defense/1988953
A combat video showing the settlement’s liberation: https://vkvideo.ru/video-213181913_456431968
Trump confirms that more PATRIOT air defence batteries are on the way to Ukraine, likely financed by Germany and Norway. So Germany and Norway buy US military equipment, and send it to Ukraine. A sign of things to come. A lot more of this on the way.
Germany is also financing the Ukrainian production of a “high three digit number” of cruise missiles and drones, likely the already existing Ukrainian systems like Long Neptune cruise missile, Bars cruise missile, AN-196 one way attack drone, and the Ukrainian equivalents of German/Shaded and Harop/Harpy one way attack drones. The first batch of these systems will finish production at the end of July. As they are Ukrainian made and operated, no restrictions on striking deep into internationally recognised Russian territory. Some of these systems have ranges between 1000-2000km. In response to Russian air raids, NATO seeks to give Ukraine it’s own significant long range strike capabilitiy.
In other news, after Germany acquired the joint Israeli-US developed Arrow 3 exoatmospheric ballistic missile defence/intercept system, Germany is also interested in acquiring the Arrow 4 system, the replacement of Arrow 2. Arrow 4 is set to offer improved performance against ballistic targets (more altitude and range) and capability against hypersonic threats, likely similar to the performance jump S-500 offers over S-300V. Germany is seeking to protect itself, and Europe, against ballistic missiles from Russia. (That’s the only possible perceived threat).
The Caracas Stock Exchange has seen a much higher than usual rise. Defying catastrophic analyses of the Venezuelan economy, the CSMI (Caracas Stock Market Index) has risen 232% in the first half of 2025 and more than 300% in the last 12 months. According to the platforms that monitor stock market movements around the world, this was the biggest rise recorded in the financial market this year.
Roughly speaking, the general value of assets traded on the stock exchange is increasing. This is a very positive sign for the market and refers to different factors: economic growth, company performance and investor confidence.
The growth is even clearer if we consider another important Latin American stock exchange. Argentina’s ultra-liberal president, Javier Milei, prides himself on managing to “recover” investor confidence in Argentina. That’s not what the country’s stock market shows. In 2025, the Merval index fell 18.35%, far worse than its regional political rival, Venezuela.
The investments also reflect a rapprochement between Nicolás Maduro’s government and Venezuelan businessmen Since last year’s presidential elections, the Chavista has met a number of times with business owners in the country to make a gesture and announce measures to support this sector.
The main one was the elimination of the Large Financial Transactions Tax (LFTT) in bolivars. The opening up of capital has also been a Chavista policy that helps in this regard. The creation of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) for foreign companies to operate in the country demonstrates Maduro’s concern with attracting private investment, which is further boosting the Venezuelan stock market.
- Telegram
Why is there this atmosphere of “the coming war with China”?
Unless they mean Taiwan — and maybe even then — it just seems absurd.
Article
Kourittenga: 35 actors equipped on feminism and gender-based violence
Koupéla, July 11, 2025 (AIB) - The Coalition to Act Against Gender-Based Violence (Faso CAC-VBG) provided training on feminism and gender-based violence to more than thirty stakeholders from partner associations, the media, and technical departments of ministries from Wednesday, July 9 to Friday, July 11, 2025, in Koupéla. This workshop was held with the financial support of Feminist Opportunities Now (FON).
The training workshop held from Wednesday 9 to Friday 11 July 2025 in Koupéla, is part of the implementation of its project “Advocacy for the improvement of the framework for the prevention and management of gender-based violence in Burkina Faso”.
35 actors from partner associations, the media and technical departments of ministries have seen their skills strengthened on issues related to feminism and gender-based violence in all its forms.
Eugène SOME, head of projects and monitoring and evaluation at the Organization for New Initiatives in Development and Health (ONIDS), said this workshop was intended to contribute to strengthening the capacities of stakeholders on gender-based violence and to be able to communicate the identity of feminism to communities in a suitable and fair manner.
“At the end of this training workshop, we expect participants to take concrete actions to raise awareness on a large scale on issues related to gender, gender-based violence and feminism,” he said.
Participants expressed their willingness to act as relays and to continue raising awareness among communities.
“We are well informed about gender-based violence in all its forms and about the concept of feminism, something that will allow us to convey accurate and appropriate words related to these themes for the benefit of communities,” one of the participants suggested.
The Coalition to Act Against Gender-Based Violence (Faso CAC_VBG) brings together ONIDS, the Young Women’s Initiative for Development (IJFAD), the Elles du Sahel Network in Burkina (EDS) and the Teeg-Wendé Association of Internally Displaced Women of Gourma (ATFDI).
It operates in the Centre-East, Centre and East regions.
Burkina Faso News Agency
Trump toughens US policy on Cuba and orders restrictions on tourism and financial transactions. A memorandum signed by the US president on the 30th calls for a review of US policy on the island; a US economic embargo in force since 1960 is reinforced.
In the memo, Trump states that the reviews should focus on Cuba’s treatment of dissidents, policies targeting dissidents and restricting financial transactions that “disproportionately benefit the Cuban government, military, intelligence, or security agencies at the expense of the Cuban people”. The prohibitions apply to direct or indirect financial transactions with entities controlled by the Cuban Army, such as Gaesa and its subsidiaries. The exception is for transactions that benefit the United States or “support the Cuban people”.
In a possible significant change, the order said the US should look for ways to shut down all tourism on the island and restrict educational tours to groups organized and run by US citizens only. Tourism to Cuba was banned, but was relaxed in some cases during the Biden administration.
The move comes as no surprise, given that Trump had already stated that he plans to revoke sanctions relief and other penalties on Cuba, instituted during the terms of Democratic presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden. In the days before he left office, Biden had moved to revoke the US designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. Trump’s memo “supports the economic embargo on Cuba and opposes calls in the United Nations and other international forums for its end,” according to the administration.
The Trump administration also added Cuba to the list of seven countries facing tighter visitor restrictions and revoked temporary legal protections for some 300,000 Cubans that shielded them from deportation. The White House also announced visa restrictions for Cuban and foreign government employees involved in Cuban medical missions, which Secretary of State Marco Rubio called “forced labor.”
In an interview with the Associated Press this month, Cuba’s deputy foreign minister, Carlos Fernández de Cossio, accused the United States of trying to discredit the medical missions and criticized the reversal of the policy of welcoming Cubans to the US. Rubio, whose family left Cuba in the 1950s, before the communist revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power, has long been an advocate of sanctions on the communist island.
- Telegram
Reuters reporting IOF missile strike kills children collecting water, blames malfunction.
Richmond Baptist Church, Lexington Kentucky. Multiple injuries, including a cop (who is stable). Shooter was killed near Blue Grass Airport.
Former Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari dies at age 82 - CNN
Article
Former Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a former military general who campaigned on rooting out government corruption, has died at age 82, the presidential press office said in a statement on Sunday.
He died in London at about 4:30 p.m. after a “prolonged illness,” according to the statement.
Nigeria’s current president Bola Ahmed Tinubu offered his condolences to Buhari’s wife and ordered his vice president to travel to the UK to accompany Buhari’s body back to Nigeria.
Tinubu hailed Buhari’s legacy as “a patriot, a soldier, a statesman” with a “deep commitment to the unity and progress” of his country.
“He stood firm through the most turbulent times, leading with quiet strength, profound integrity, and an unshakable belief in Nigeria’s potential. He championed discipline in public service, confronted corruption head-on, and placed the country above personal interest at every turn,” Tinubu said.
Buhari was elected president in 2015 after running unsuccessfully three times. He was re-elected for another four-year term in 2019.
A former general who first came to power in a 1983 military coup only to be overthrown by another military coup two years later, Buhari will be remembered for his strong anti-corruption agenda in a country famously described as “fantastically corrupt” by former British prime minister David Cameron. Others laud his tough stance against the Boko Haram insurgency and security issues that plagued the northeast of the country for years.
A Fulani Muslim, he was born in Daura, Katsina state in Nigeria’s northern province in December 1942 and completed military training in Kaduna state, Great Britain, India and the United States.
He first came into political prominence in 1975 after a military coup that overthrew then-ruler Yakubu Gowon. Buhari was made military governor of Borno state – a state plagued by Boko Haram.
Buhari, who was married twice and has ten children, was part of Nigeria’s ruling establishment both as a military ruler and later a “reformed democrat” as he called himself during the 2015 election campaign, which he won by a landslide.
Nigerians lined the streets celebrating his victory; however, the honeymoon didn’t last long as many believed he squandered his goodwill by being too slow in his presidential actions.
He took six months to appoint ministers to his cabinet and then failed to act quickly to tackle the country’s economic crises, which was in part brought about by a weak currency and falling global oil prices.
For months, Buhari refused to devalue Nigeria’s falling currency, the naira, and weakened investor confidence. This further led to a gulf between the official and black market exchange rate.
According to economic analyst Bismarck Rewane, one of Buhari’s failings was his limited understanding of modern economics and markets policies, which plunged the country into recession. This lack of understanding was rooted in paranoia and suspicion after he was overthrown during his first military rule, according to Rewane.
He said: “In 1983, Buhari felt he was swindled when he was asked by the IMF to devalue the Naira and remove subsidy. Three weeks later there was a coup against him. Since then he has been suspicious of free market policies and he took a long time to do things. When he did do them, the impact was too little too late and not optimal.”
Rewane, who met President Buhari several times on the campaign trail and gave him some policy advice after his victory, says Buhari will be remembered as a “strong and principled leader.”
“He was a very unique governor,” Rewane told CNN. “Some people will say he was rigid, he didn’t shift when he believed in something. But I see that as a good thing. He had a strength of character is very rare in this part of this world. People here are too flexible and corrupted.”
Buhari’s first term was characterized by war on many fronts, including the Boko Haram insurgency, the secessionist pro-Biafra movement in the east of Nigeria and rampaging Fulani herdsmen across Nigeria.
Despite growing concerns around the country’s security situation, Buhari was reelected in 2019. During his second term, furious protests against police brutality erupted across the country, decrying reported incidents of kidnapping, harassment, and extortion by a controversial police unit.
Buhari vowed to do more to fight militant groups and fix the economy as the demonstrations turned deadly and continued to simmer for the remainder of his presidency.
In his final UN speech in 2022, Buhari criticized the “corrosive” effect” of fellow leaders who extend term limits to cling to power. The next year, he praised his successor and fellow party member Tinubu as “the best person for the job.”
I haven’t seen it talked about much here but on July 4th a large group of black military-garbed people lured ICE agents out of a detention facility using fireworks then opened fire on them with AR-15s.
10 people have been charged.
The US seems on the verge of something very big.
