A reminder that as the US continues to threaten countries around the world, fedposting is to be very much avoided (even with qualifiers like “in Minecraft”) and comments containing it will be removed.

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.

  • Orban losing power: Pretty cool, though his replacement being Neoliberal #2980329891 means that big changes seem unlikely.

  • 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).

  • 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.

  • 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

If you have evidence of Zionist 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 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.


  • jack [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.net
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    9 hours ago

    before this thread closes down please never forget

    DEATH TO ISRAEL DEATH TO AMERIKKKA UNLIMITED LIBERATION FOR THE THIRD WORLD BOIL ALL CAPITALISTS AND IMPERIALISTS IN OIL

  • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.netM
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    9 hours ago

    In response to the US designation of the Brazilian cartels, PCC and CV, as terrorist groups, China supports Brazil - BdF

    The statement was made on the eve of Mauro Vieira’s visit; Flávio Bolsonaro asked Trump to classify the factions.

    Article

    On the eve of Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira’s visit to China, scheduled for Sunday (31), the spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, reiterated this Friday (29) that Beijing “has always defended non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries”.

    Mao Ning was responding to a question from Folha de S.Paulo about the US government’s decision to classify the First Command of the Capital (PCC) and the Red Command (CV) as terrorist organizations. The spokesperson added that China “has noted the relevant reports.”

    The US State Department announced on Thursday (28) that it will include the PCC and CV in the categories of “foreign terrorist organizations” and “specially designated global terrorists”, effective June 5. The announcement came two days after Senator and presidential pre-candidate Flávio Bolsonaro (PL-RJ) met with President Donald Trump at the White House and one day after the parliamentarian’s meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

    The Brazilian government opposed the classification. Celso Amorim, special advisor for international affairs to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), stated at an event in Russia that “equating organized crime with terrorism doesn’t help” and that the fight must be carried out “with maximum energy and determination,” but in a way distinct from terrorism.

    According to Gilberto Maringoni, professor of International Relations at the Federal University of ABC (UFABC), the classification would make Brazil vulnerable to interventions from Washington, with the imposition of asymmetrical agreements and the subordination of local repressive actions to US laws. “The Brazilian state must be relentless in combating crime, but in a sovereign manner and without external interference,” he said.

    Thomaz Delgado de David, a doctoral candidate in International Relations at the University of São Paulo (USP), believes that the measure represents “a serious risk to Brazilian sovereignty.”

    Mauro Vieira will arrive in China on Sunday for an official visit that will last until June 2nd, at the invitation of Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The two ministers will co-chair the 5th Comprehensive Strategic Dialogue at the Ministerial Level between China and Brazil.

    Announcing the visit on Thursday, Mao Ning described bilateral relations as being at the forefront of China’s relations with developing countries, with progress in aligning the development strategies of both countries and fruitful results in pragmatic cooperation in various fields. According to the spokesperson, the ties have global, strategic, and long-term significance, and China hopes to deepen mutual political trust, promote solidarity among countries of the Global South, and contribute to world peace and stability.

    According to Mao Ning, bilateral relations “have advanced steadily in recent years under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, with progress in building a China-Brazil community with a shared future and in aligning national development strategies.”

  • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.netM
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    10 hours ago

    Bolivia: Protest leaders tell me they “have no incentive to negotiate with the government, if they are bought by the oligarchs, and they continue to seek to repress us, arrest us, and put us aside.” They add, “This is the only way our interests can be represented.”

  • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.netM
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    9 hours ago

    Drone attack hits Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, under Russian control - BdF

    A Russian state agency reported that the equipment is Ukrainian; Kyiv denies this.

    Article

    The Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation , Rosatom, reported that a Ukrainian drone struck the engine room building of the sixth unit at Zaporizhzhia, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe. The area has been under Russian control since the beginning of the conflict in 2022. The head of the corporation pointed out that the attack is the first in world history to target critical equipment at a nuclear power plant.

    Alexei Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, reported that the impact caused an explosion and opened a hole in the wall of the engine room. The main equipment, however, was not damaged, and there were no casualties. According to him, the drone was controlled by fiber optics, ruling out the possibility of an accidental impact.

    Ukraine rejected the accusations. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry stated in a press release that they lacked “logic.” “It is unclear why Ukraine would attack its own nuclear power plant located on its own territory, which it seeks to recover under its sovereign control,” the ministry said .

    Radiation levels remain normal at the site, the company said in a statement. The agency reported that emergency teams are assessing the damage to the engine room, and the situation remains under full control.

    Likhachev accused Ukrainian forces of overstepping insurmountable boundaries and acting recklessly. He warned of the risks of potential attacks against other critical plant facilities, including turbines, the reactor, or safety systems. The director stressed that such incidents could have consequences beyond Russia and Ukraine in the event of a nuclear emergency.

    The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a United Nations agency, wrote on the social network X, on Saturday (30): “There should be no kind of attack coming from or against the plant”. “Attacking nuclear facilities is like playing with fire,” he added.

    A team of IAEA experts visited the factory on Sunday to assess the damage, said Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy to the UN agency and other international organizations in Vienna. He shared images of the site, showing the hole in the wall of the machinery shed caused by the drone.

  • Redcuban1959 [any]@hexbear.netM
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    9 hours ago

    The Iranian government is demanding guarantees that the country’s rights will be respected in an agreement with the United States - BdF

    Article

    In a statement made this Sunday (31), the president of parliament said that there are not enough demonstrations.

    During a virtual session of the Iranian Consultative Assembly, held this Sunday (31), the President of Parliament, Mohamad Baqer Ghalibaf, declared that no agreement will be signed until the government has guarantees that the United States will comply with the measures present in the text.

    The statement comes after US President Donald Trump submitted a peace proposal with terms considered tougher, according to AFP . The terms were not disclosed. Trump stated in an interview with Fox News that his priorities include preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

    “Our criteria are the concrete results we must achieve; only then will we be willing to fulfill our corresponding commitments. And until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people are guaranteed, we will not approve any agreement,” Ghalibaf reaffirmed in a speech reported by the Iranian state news agency Irna .

    In his speech to the assembly, the president praised the efforts of the Armed Forces, the population, and the state administrators responsible for alleviating the economic and subsistence difficulties faced by the population at this time, and expressed confidence. “Very soon, God will cause the feeling of victory to spread in the hearts of all the Iranian people,” he declared.

    Among the important points of the agreement for Iran, says the Tasnin agency , is the release of US$12 billion belonging to the Iranian government and frozen in international funds.

    In his most recent post on the subject on the Truth Social network, where Donald Trump has been making pronouncements, the US president reposted a message from former White House spokesman Newt Gingrich.

    In the text, Gingrich says he is confident that Trump is close to a major victory for the country regarding Iran and praised the importance of Israel and the coalitions formed in the Middle East.

  • red_giant [comrade/them, he/him]@hexbear.net
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    11 hours ago

    A Danish pension fund has blacklisted SpaceX, calling it grossly overvalued with catastrophic governance

    AkademikerPension will not buy SpaceX shares at any price near the $1.8 trillion IPO target, saying the company cannot reasonably be worth more than $1 trillion and that Musk’s voting control makes it effectively uninvestable

    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.

  • Tervell [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    11 hours ago

    https://xcancel.com/annework7/status/2061348862346879321

    Chevron CEO said many tankers have been hit, but the USA is stopping UKMTO from reporting . Watch his interview, eye opening

    from this interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iJSfeqr-TQ, at 11:15

    There still has been kinetic activity this week, some of which has been reported in the media, some of which has not. … There have been vessels that have been in transit that have suffered attacks.

    More than what we’ve heard of in the press?

    Yes, our reports would indicate that

    although he doesn’t specifically say the US is stopping the reporting from happening, just that there’s hits not being reported on

  • AlHouthi4President@lemmy.ml
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    14 hours ago

    IRGC released footage of the (single?) FATEH-110 missile that damaged 2 MQ9 drones and “wounded” 5 yankee child-killing soldiers in Kuwait last week. (ISW News)

    This is the sticker they put on it.

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    15 hours ago

    https://xcancel.com/MenchOsint/status/2061224017349030374

    Unreported? 👇 252 m ship spotted in Strait of Hormuz entrance ON FIRE being approached by 4 large speedboats from Iran 🇮🇷 direction while another left the scene heading SE at 26.0972, 56.8303. 2 DAYS AGO

    Looks like one of the tankers quietly escorted by the US Navy was targeted and caught fire 2-3 days ago (unreported by UKMTO)

    I guess part of “quietly guiding” ships is also making sure they quietly burn down when they get shot catgirl-smug

  • Tervell [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    15 hours ago

    https://xcancel.com/MenchOsint/status/2061170587335074304

    The “Beaufort Castle” PR stunt has been exaggerated by the Israeli regime. During the 2024 incursion they intruded in Deir Mimas, 3km from the border, for same purpose. From there, it’s easy to access the Castle (they arrived today, but for how long will they hold…)

    https://xcancel.com/bonzerbarry/status/2061234472507297977

    israeli platforms speak of another “security incident” that recently occurred in Lebanon and is under censorship. Drone strike with a number of casualties.

    https://xcancel.com/bonzerbarry/status/2061053838056902794

    • Hezbollah hasn’t stopped shooting rockets and drones at targets throughout northern occupied Palestine today, including down towards Acre. Sirens have been triggered in the north at least 11 times in 7 hours.
    • Army Radio: Hezbollah continues to extend its range of firing, and they may keep extending it.
    • Wounded occupation army troops were airlifted from Lebanon a short while ago.
    • An FPV just struck an IOF base in the north a moment ago.
    • Hadashot BezMen: Unusual event in the north of the country: urgent evacuation of 5 soldiers to Rambam Medical Center following a FPV attack.
    • Hezbollah fired heavy rockets down into Safed for the second day in a row.
    • israeli platform: Not only rocket launches towards Israel: Hezbollah fires dozens of FPV drones at our forces in Lebanon throughout the day.
    • Hezbollah just expanded their target bank to Tiberias.
    • They have conducted 4 launches into northern occupied Palestine in the last hour. With the latest being a barrage of heavy rockets into Tiberias moments ago (the video is meant for listening)
    • Channel 14: impact in Kfar Hittim (3km from Tiberias).
    • Maariv: Hezbollah intensifies fire: after Nahariya and Safed - the rockets also reached Tiberias.
  • darkcalling [comrade/them, she/her]@hexbear.net
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    19 hours ago

    US military secretly guiding ships through Strait of Hormuz – NYT (RT link)

    Washington has reportedly coordinated the passage of 70 cargo vessels despite Trump’s abrupt suspension of Project Freedom

    According to the Times, US Central Command (CENTCOM) has coordinated the passage of around 70 commercial vessels through the waterway over the past three weeks. An official told the newspaper that most of the vessels had turned off their transponders to avoid detection by Iranian forces. The ships reportedly used a shipping lane closer to the Omani coast.

    In April, the US imposed a blockade on Iranian ports and has since intercepted more than 100 cargo ships. On Sunday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that 28 vessels had passed through the strait over the previous 24 hours after obtaining permission.

    So to me it seems both sides are having limited success. US blockade isn’t 100% tight but nor is Iranian control of the strait if that many ships snuck through. With recent reports of the US firing a missile at the engine room of a cargo ship for running the blockade I think the US just wants to sit and wait. If the US can get vital shipments of raw material through perhaps they believe they can choke Iran out with a blockade or at least not lose face. Iran meanwhile may not have the ability to project power that far from its coast or observe ships reliably that have transponders and lights off and may be moving through the most dangerous parts at night.