Image is sourced from this Guardian article.
The Pope’s fucking dead.
He gave JD Vance three chocolate easter eggs, exchanged pleasantries for 17 minutes, and then keeled over and died.
What a way to go.
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.
The US Department of Justice is setting its sights on Wikipedia, threatening the Wikimedia Foundation’s tax-exempt status over allegations of spreading foreign propaganda.
“Wikipedia is permitting information manipulation on its platform, including the rewriting of key, historical events and biographical information of current and previous American leaders, as well as other matters implicating the national security and the interests of the United States,” [US Attorney] Martin wrote. “Masking propaganda that influences public opinion under the guise of providing informational material is antithetical to Wikimedia’s ‘educational’ mission.”
Fanatical Zionist and genocide enjoyer Bari Weiss’s rag “The Free Press” is leading the charge on reporting this, so it not difficult to imagine what the objective is here. As a relatively new story, the only article I found that isn’t part of this reactionary media blitz was in the NZ Herald: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/us-attorney-for-dc-accuses-wikipedia-of-propaganda-threatens-non-profit-status/6TCXK6CRPNFY3JBAB65JEBSM3Y/
This may amount to nothing, but watch this space.
Huge power outage in Spain, Portugal, some parts of France at least. A while ago.
Edit: No cell data. Using my dad’s Internet hot-spot which has satellite Internet
Edit 2: My father says some airplane crashed into a very high voltage line
Edit 3: Some cell data, but very slow, probably under a lot of pressure
Edit 4: airplane story might be fake, but it’s confirmed a very high voltage cable got cut somehow
Also radio is so back lol
President Trump, after talking to Zelensky for 15 minutes at the Vatican:
'There was no reason for Putin to be shooting missiles into civilian areas, cities and towns, over the last few days! It makes me think that maybe he doesn’t want to stop the war, he’s just tapping me along. Maybe he has to be dealt with differently, through ‘Banking’ or ‘Secondary Sanctions?’.
- Telegram
Trump is so stupid lol.
Lets go back to doing what Biden was doing! But this is Biden’s war!
I agree with your point, but I dont believe the T man is unaware of what he’s doing.
the last person to talk to trump is in full control of the united states until the next last person to talk to trump gets their turn
These people are all capitalists with many competing interests. Will be entertaining to see the ways in which this prevents coherent policy decisions from being made.
It reminds me of my idea for a cult where the last person to join automatically becomes leader.
Don’t worry, he’ll talk to someone else in the next day and reverse position yet again.
Honestly impressive how stupid he is sometimes. If I were a hog I’d get exhausted having to change all of my beliefs every time Trump talked to someone different.
here’s the neat thing for them… they don’t have to change positions! ever!
They just hold their own bespoke brainworms, and use mental gymnastics and “Trump is playing 5D chess” arguments to justify everything to themselves. There’s not one Trump, there are 150 million different Trumps inside 150 different reactionary little minds
His incoherency, inconsistency and waffling all benefit him. They make him even more unknowable, like god, so that everyone can worship their own bespoke image of him that works in mysterious ways.
The thing is, this works on Liberals with Trump Derangement Syndrome as well. They hate an idea of Trump, and have made him into an equally powerful and eternal evil god or devil. They both have reified him as integral to their metaphysical worldview.
Israel bombs Lebanon’s capital Beirut
Israeli forces have carried out an airstrike on Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, in the latest violation of a ceasefire agreement with the country’s resistance movement, Hezbollah.
Total blackout in Portugal, Spain and some parts of France!!!
Guees who’s not working 2day
Some news from the Kursk front. Russian forces fully liberated the Kursk oblast border areas today. Russia confirmed that some DPRK troops (including elite Special Operations Forces) participated in the Kursk border area’s liberation.
Russian forces liberated the last Kiev-occupied Kursk oblast village, Gornal: https://sputnikglobe.com/20250426/russias-kursk-region-completely-liberated-from-ukrainian-forces---kremlin-1121935136.html
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated, “The soldiers of the Korean People’s Army, in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Russia and the DPRK, which entered into force on December 4, 2024, fought shoulder to shoulder in one trench and shed blood with our soldiers and officers in the Kursk Region and made a significant contribution to the liberation of the Russian land from enemy invaders.” https://sputnikglobe.com/20250426/n-koreas-solidarity-on-liberating-kursk-region-demonstrates-high-allied-level-relations---moscow-1121938683.html
Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov stated, “The DPRK military, acting shoulder to shoulder with the Russian military in Kursk Region, showed resilience and heroism.” https://www.rt.com/russia/616356-north-korean-troops-kursk/
The Swiss under-23 fencing team turns its back on the Israeli team during the medal ceremony of the European Fencing Championship in protest against genocide.
- Telegram
Julian Assange and His Family Attend Pope Francis’ Funeral - Telegram
Article
‘We’ve all come to Rome to express our family’s gratitude for the Pope’s support during Julian’s persecution,” Stella Assange said. On Saturday, Australian journalist Julian Assange went to St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican to pay tribute to Pope Francis.
On social media, his wife Stella posted a photo of the WikiLeaks founder and their two children on Via della Conciliazione, with the Basilica in the background.
“Now Julian is free, we have all come to Rome to express our family’s gratitude for the Pope’s support during Julian’s persecution,” she said.
“Our children and I had the honor of meeting Pope Francis in June 2023 to discuss how to free Julian from Belmarsh prison. Francis wrote to Julian in prison and even proposed to grant him asylum at the Vatican,” Stella added.
Could you imagine Julian living with Pope Francis in the Vatican lol
Hundreds of officers belonging to the UAE-backed ‘Yemeni National Resistance’ have defected to Ansarallah (the Houthis), and gathered in the capital Sanaa for briefing. These officers defected from the UAE-backed ‘Yemeni National Resistance’, their territory is on Yemen’s Western Coast
They are led by General Tareq Saleh, nephew of the late President Ali Abdullah Saleh, the former Houthi ally that defected to the side of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in 2017. It seems almost all of their high command have defected.
- Telegram
a defection inside a defection.
this is how we know they are leftists (joke)
here’s a pic of some of the officers in Saana, attending briefings.supposedly it is most of the YNR’s general staff
UAE keeps losing
We all love to see it.
I just hope they get vetted well. Rapid expansion of forces and poor security vetting is reportedly how Israel infiltrated Hezbollah since 2006.
Mercenaries going to mercenary. I guess it’s become clear to them that a UAE backed ground offensive against Ansarallah/the Houthis is not happening in the current moment (opposition too fractured and divided), so they’re going to switch sides in the meantime. Or some kind of half baked offensive is being planned, and they don’t want to die, so they defect to the opponent.
Overall the UAE is just taking loss after loss on the geopolitical front.
Where else? RSF is still going strong right? Or do you mean wrt israel
RSF has faced some large setbacks recently, they managed to regroup, but lost some key territory.
Thanks, I missed that
The PLA deploying their thirst traps to win the hearts and minds of Vietnam:
https://xcancel.com/XH_Lee23/status/1916059226734268449
genuinely impressed that none of them visibly cracked at hundreds of ladies screaming “husbands!” at them lol
The comments on that post are truly awful, fun video though!
Click on it to see white dudes talking about Asian “trad wives” and another one complaining about “CCP PROPAGANDA.” Click on his profile and it’s a bunch of tradwife shit. Twitter is too predictable.
free block list
Chief of General Staff Gerasimov through TASS has confirmed the presence of DPRK fighters in some capacity:
Gerasimov also commended the role of North Korean fighters in the liberation of the Kursk Region.
“I want specially to note the participation of servicemen of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in liberating border areas of the Kursk Region who in accordance with the Treaty on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between our countries rendered considerable assistance in crushing the Ukrainian army’s combat group that had launched an incursion,” Gerasimov said.
As Russia’s military chief pointed out, “soldiers and officers of the Korean People’s Army were accomplishing combat objectives shoulder to shoulder with Russian servicemen and in the process of repelling the Ukrainian incursion showed high professionalism and displayed endurance, courage and heroism in combat.”
massive port explosion in iran, Shaheed Rajaee Port which is a large container port. Over 500 reported injured, unknown number of casualties. If you watch the videos it is strikingly similar to the Beirut explosion a few years ago
Investigations and recovery are still ongoing
BREAKING | A massive explosion has been reported at the Port of Shahid Rajaee, one of two parts of the port of Bandar Abbas, located on the north shores of the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran.
According to Mehr News, a fuel tank in the port exploded for an unknown reason, and rapid response teams were immediately dispatched to the area.
Port activities have now been suspended so that the situation can be quickly brought under control by security and relief forces.
The number of casualties from the explosion has yet to be determined.
UPDATE | The number of injured in the Shahid Rajaee port explosion has risen to at least 516.
Source- the Cradle
The Portuguese Air Force is clear, the F-35 is its future - Defence Archives, 23 April 2025
In a time of intense debate, particularly in the media, over Portugal’s question of what jet to procure to replace its ageing F-16 fighters, and given recent comments by the Minister of Defense, the highlight of the day was whether or not there were other options to the F-35 for the Portuguese Air Force.
For the Air Force Chief of Staff, General Cartaxo Alves, the answer was simple, the F-35 is a must for Portugal and its Air Force.
For him there are several reasons, first and foremost is the recent strategy for the transformation of airpower released last year, Força Aérea 5.3, where it was stated that a 5th generation fighter was a strategic and operational must-have. The General reiterated this idea, reminding that the F-35 is the only jet on the market capable of bringing the needed technological leap forward. He reminded the fact that Lockheed Martin’s fighter boasts a superior survivability and connectivity that European fighters cannot match, namely the Eurofighter, Rafale and Gripen.
This is the only conclusion one can come to after analysing the air campaigns in the Russia - Ukraine war, and even the latest US Navy air campaign against Ansarallah/the Houthis in Yemen. 5th generation capabilities like stealth/low observability to radar and infrared systems have gone from a nice to have, to a must have for a modern air force or air campaign, thanks to the advancements in ground based air defence.
Why is Portugal so concerned with maintaining an air force? Wouldn’t the money be better spent on drones or air defense or something?
Maybe this is related to the defense of Azores and Madeira islands, but idk.
There’s not much to defend apart from Lajes Air Base, but even that hasn’t seen much use recently.
Don’t other countries have one, though? Like China basically has their own, Portugal could buy theirs.
Yeah Portugal could buy the Chinese J-35, but will they? There’s so much European integration already with the F-35 project, I can’t see it being scrapped for a pivot to China. And there’s the question if China can supply export orders for European demand currently anyways, the J-35 hasn’t entered service officially yet in China.
Warning Against Normalizing Extremist Groups in Syria and Future Regional Risks - Telesur English
Article
UN reports warn that resettling thousands of hardened fighters in Syria could transform it into a hub for exporting terror. With Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s rise to power in Damascus after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024, developments in Syria are raising fears of attempts to normalize extremist groups with a long history of terrorism and jihadi ideology.
Accepting these groups as legitimate rulers—without holding them accountable for their terrorist past—could open the door for other terrorist organizations to pursue control of the region, posing a serious threat to Middle East stability.
From Saydnaya to the Legitimization of Extremists
The Saydnaya prison, near the Syrian capital, has been transformed into a media symbol justifying Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham’s ascent. Led by figures like Ahmad al-Shar’ (Abu Muhammad al-Julani), a former senior Al-Qaeda commander, the group portrays Saydnaya as a site of Sunni suffering to lend moral legitimacy to organizations with documented terrorist histories. Syrian journalist Sarkis Qassarjian argues that “depicting Saydnaya as Sunni persecution aims to provide an ethical veneer for groups whose extremist ideology and violent actions are well-documented.”
The Impossibility of a Civilian Turnaround
Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which evolved from Al-Nusra Front (Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria), casts doubt on its ability to transform into a moderate, civilian governing body. Political analyst Abdul Razzaq al-Mahdi observes, “Groups raised on jihad and violence cannot easily become civilian political forces, as their ideology is deeply rooted in extremism.” A report by the “Mustaqbal” (Future) Center supports this view, noting that “superficial changes in HTS’s rhetoric—such as toning down religious discourse—are tactical adaptations, not fundamental transformations.”
Having carried out terrorist operations and attracted thousands of foreign fighters, these groups cannot shed their jihadi principles without incurring tremendous risk. A United Nations report reveals that over 16,000 foreign fighters joined extremist organizations in Syria and Iraq, making their reintegration into a civilian governance system virtually impossible.
Appetites for Terror
Accepting Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham as a legitimate authority without prosecuting its leaders for past crimes sends a dangerous message to other terrorist groups in the region. Ahmad al-Shar’, once linked to the 9/11 attacks, is now head of a de facto government in Syria. If the world accepts his leadership despite his record, why wouldn’t other extremist organizations attempt regime overthrow and power seizure by similar means?
Writer Hassan Tahiri warns that “normalizing extremist groups encourages a new generation of terrorists who see violence as a pathway to power.” A report by the Washington Institute adds, “Failure to hold leaders like al-Shar’ accountable erodes justice and reinforces impunity, opening the door to regional chaos.”
The Role of Sponsor States
Regional powers such as Qatar—which has financed Islamist factions—and Turkey—the official backer of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham—play significant roles in bolstering the new extremist governance. They seek to rebrand these groups and figures like al-Shar’ through moderated rhetoric and a more palatable image. Yet recent atrocities—in March 2025, thousands of Alawites were reportedly killed in their own areas by extremist factions now ruling Syria—underscore the impossibility of producing genuine reform despite HTS’s attempts at rhetorical change. A BBC report suggests this support is driven by geopolitical interests, like filling Syria’s political vacuum, rather than genuine belief in HTS’s transformation.
Facing Tomorrow’s Challenges
Under Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, Syria confronts immense challenges, including managing sectarian and factional diversity. The Future Center warns that “fundamentalist groups, which fragmented into over 1,000 factions in Iraq, could become ticking time bombs in Syria.” Al-Shar’’s plans to form a national army or convene a national dialogue also face criticism for lacking popular legitimacy, according to the Washington Institute.
Regional Threat Scenario
Continued normalization of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham could lead to catastrophic outcomes by emboldening and expanding extremist ambitions. HTS’s success might inspire other groups to pursue power through violence, threatening an already unstable region. Moreover, the group’s failure to rein in hardened militant factions risks triggering new civil wars within Syria. The UN and BBC reports warn that resettling thousands of hardened fighters in Syria could transform it into a hub for exporting terror.
In sum, normalizing extremist groups like Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham—without accountability for their terrorist history—poses a grave danger to the Middle East’s future. Ahmad al-Shar’s shift from Al-Qaeda commander to political leader sends a perilous signal that violence can be a path to power, undermining justice and encouraging regional disorder.
