news

Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei: 'Negotiations with the United States are useless, and will not benefit the country in any way' In his speech today, the Supreme Leader once again emphasized that negotiating with the U.S. is not of any benefit to the Iranian nation:

"For some time now, you have been hearing, in newspapers, in cyberspace, and in the words of various people, that there is discussion about negotiations with America. They mention the word 'negotiation', saying, 'Sir, negotiation is a good thing,' as if someone is opposed to the goodness of negotiation. Today, the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is one of the busiest foreign ministries globally. That is its job, after all. It negotiates with countries around the world — Eastern, Western, all kinds — it travels back and forth, speaks, and signs agreements."

"The exception that exists is America. Of course, I do not mention the Zionist regime because it is not a real country. The Zionist regime is a gang of criminals who came and occupied a land and are committing crimes. That is not a subject of discussion. The exception is America. Why is it an exception? What is the reason? Negotiating with America has no effect on solving the country's problems. We must understand this. They should not make it seem as if sitting at the table with that government will solve this or that problem. No, not at all."

"No problem is solved through negotiations with America. The reason? Experience. In the 2010's, we sat down and negotiated with America for about two years. A treaty was formed with them (JCPOA). Our government sat down and negotiated. They went, came, sat, stood, negotiated, talked, laughed, shook hands, became friends — they did everything. A treaty was formed. In this treaty, the Iranian side was very generous. It gave many concessions to the other side. But the Americans did not implement the treaty."

"The very person who is now in office [Trump] tore up this treaty. He said, 'I will tear it up,' and he did. Even before he came, those with whom this treaty was signed did not implement it. The treaty was meant to lift U.S. sanctions. The U.S. sanctions were not lifted at all. We should learn from this experience. We gave concessions, we negotiated, we compromised, but we did not achieve any result. That is what happened. Even this treaty, with all the concessions we gave, was still undermined, violated, and torn apart by the other side."

"Negotiating with such a government should not be done. Negotiation with them is neither wise, nor intelligent, nor honorable. We must solve our problems internally, not relying on outside factors. As for the Americans, they comment on us, they talk, they express their opinions, they issue threats. If they threaten us, we will threaten them. If they carry out their threat, we will carry out our threat as well. If they violate the security of our nation, we will undoubtedly violate their security as well. This is our duty.'"

https://www.npr.org/2025/02/07/g-s1-47322/musks-team-takes-control-of-key-systems-at-consumer-financial-protection-bureau Musk's team takes control of key systems at Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Milei Declares Mapuche Ancestral Resistance a Terrorist Organization - Telesur English

President Nicolas Maduro Interview with Breno Altman - Opera Mundi (Portuguese Only)

The r/China subreddit has been a ghost town lately with mostly positive to neutral comments. One of the top posters has nothing new posted after January 19th lol

Some images of the removal and taping up of USAID signage at Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington D.C. Comrades, I don't think we'll get more poetic imagery than this of the death of contemporary globalised neoliberal capital:

Which brings me to the point of discussion, what comes afterwards? More barbarity? Isolation? Protectionism? The fall of empire? I encourage any analysis or reply, no matter how brief or detailed.

As for me, the enternal pessimist, I think we're entering a new phase of the US empire, not a fall or decline but a shift in tactics, and the current focus appears to be around shipping lanes and freedom of navigation. If we look at the current targets of the US administration's aggressive rhetoric, in Panama, Canada, México, Greenland, Egypt, Iran and China, and even South Africa, a picture emerges: that is drawn on the USA controlling the world's shipping. With Panama we have the Panama canal as an obvious flashpoint, México with the Gulf of México, then with Egypt we have the Suez, Iran is about the Strait of Hormuz and the oil trade with China, with China itself it's about the South China Sea, with Canada and Greenland there's the Arctic shipping lanes such as the North West Passage, and with South Africa there's the Cape of Good Hope and Durban. It really looks as if Trump and his advisors are playing the board game "Risk" here, and looking to exert influence or directly control key points in this regard. If manufacturing can't be brought back to the United States, the consolation prize is to control the flow of goods and the world's oceans.

What Iran and Yemen demonstrated over the past year and a half in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden is scary for whoever seeks to control the world's oceans. Which brings me to the topic of Yemen, Trump has been scarily quiet here, with regards to Ansarallah/the Houthis. Aside from designating them as a terrorist organisation, he hasn't said much. When the right hand is moving, you must watch what the left is doing. Trump's first call to a foreign leader after taking power was to Saudi Arabia's MBS. Yes, even before Netanyahu. There was been increased US and French reconnaissance flights around Yemen. And despite all the cuts to USAID and various other three letter organisations, rumours are that the US has increased contact with the opposition/internationally recognised government in Yemen. If I were in the position of Ansarallah, I'd be preparing for for engagements with the United States.

But vibes!

Homelessness increased 18% in 2024, affecting over 770,000 people. Child homelessness also increased 33%, with nearly 150,000 kids living without a home.

To nobody’s surprise, the Qassam brigades are inducting new recruits at speed

“🇵🇸🇵🇸 The Al-Qassam Brigades has recruited thousands of new fighters since the beginning of the ceasefire. The fighters swear that they will confront the occupation with everything they have, and will continue the path of resistance until the complete liberation of Palestine, no matter the sacrifices.”

https://streamable.com/lfmnu0

Source: telegram

Musk's net worth to drop from about $433B to $401.8B... Tariffs. Lol remember when dude lost 180 billion like it wasn't a thing. What a system. https://thehill.com/business/5130784-elon-musk-donald-trump-tariffs-doge-net-worth/?ICID=ref_fark

yoav gallant admits that israel used the hannibal directive on oct 7. we all knew this here but i was surprised that he was willing to say it https://thecradle.co/articles-id/28788

The White House just issued an executive order on South Africa that includes admitting Afrikaner South Africans as refugees to the United States

Indoor vs. Outdoor cat debate just intensified

C.D.C. Posts, Then Deletes, Data on Bird Flu Spread Between Cats and People

The data, which appeared fleetingly online on Wednesday, confirmed transmission in two households. Scientists called on the agency to release the full report.

Outdoor cats are bringing bird flu into housholds

The US is so fucked. Here are 7 posts I made in c/news in just the last ~30 minutes.

• A Trump megadonor wants the Supreme Court to overturn the landmark 1964 decision in New York Times v. Sullivan which protects the media's ability to aggressively cover public officials.

• Trump has plans for “imminent mass layoffs” for up to as many as 200,000 employees hired within the last two years.

• Republicans planning ‘deep cuts’ to Medicaid [See body text]

• Senate Republicans' opaque budget resolution points in troubling direction. It hides how hides how the $342 billion spending increase (mass deportations etc) would be paid for.

• Hospitals could be Congress’ next target as GOP looks to extend Trump’s tax cuts

• Trump Tax Cuts Would Cost Between 5 and 11 Trillion Dollars

• Senate GOP Proposes $350 Billion for Mass Deportations

So a friend of mine just told me that shortly after the Elon Musk sieg heil salute there was a video recorded from behind him which showed him click his heels together when he did the nazi salute (both times), eliminating any doubt whatsoever what his intention with that gesture was.

Now, try as he might, he can't find the video anywhere - he seems to think it's been completely scrubbed from the web.

Anybody else seen this? Clearly Google has scrubbed it, but I also briefly checked Yandex and I'm not seeing anything there either.

Any ideas on how to track this down?