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Bulletins and News Discussion from March 17th to March 23rd, 2025 - The Kafue River Dies - COTW: Zambia (hexbear.net)

submitted 1 month ago by SeventyTwoTrillion@hexbear.net to c/news@hexbear.net

445 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Image is of the breach in the tailings dam near Kitwe.

On February 18th, 50 million liters of acidic waste from a copper mine was accidentally released into the Kafue River after a tailings dam collapsed. The Kafue River stretches for a thousand miles across Zambia and a majority of the country - millions of people - rely on it, for both the economy and drinking water.

The results have already been catastrophic. The water supply for the city of Kitwe, home to 700,000 people, was completely shut off. As the wave of contamination moved downstream, a wave of death accompanied it as dead fish dotted the river surface. The government is dropping lime into the river to try and counteract the acid with an alkali and neutralize the water, but the tailings also contain toxic heavy metals that will undoubtably seep into the nearby environment and affect the area for years to come.

A considerable portion of the media attention to the accident has been devoted to the fact that the mine was Chinese-owned, as well as China's broader influence and investment in the region. Western anti-China propaganda aside, it has been clear to those in the know that these mines have been badly managed and needlessly dangerous for years now, and it is disappointing - to say the least - to see disasters of this magnitude occur from Chinese businesses. Hopefully this prompts a wave of investigations into China-owned mine managers all around the continent, who will then hopefully face real consequences for their actions.

Last week's thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.

Please check out the HexAtlas!

The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.

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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[–] MarmiteLover123@hexbear.net 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

The first footage has been released, Xcancel mirror of the US Air Force, Navy or Marine Corps using APKWS laser guided rockets to shoot down Ansarallah (known as the Houthis in western media) drones and cruise missiles. I was talking a few days ago about how this was already happening, but now it's confirmed by video footage from CENTCOM themselves.

What is APKWS? To put it simply, APKWS is a conversion kit that turns unguided Hydra-70 rockets (of which 5 million exist) into laser guided short range missiles. Similar to how a Paveway kit turns an unguided bomb into a laser guided bomb, or a JDAM kit turns an unguided bomb into a GPS guided bomb, APKWS turns unguided rockets into guided missiles. APKWS was first designed only to be used against ground targets, but the Ukrainians, when firing them from their VAMPIRE ground and sea based launch systems, proved that it can be used successfully against cruise missiles and drones, and as a result the US military is doing the same, and even planning modifications to APKWS to make it even more effective against air targets, such as adding infrared terminal guidance.

Ukrainian VAMPIRE system taking out Russian cruise missiles and drones

Xcancel mirror

Why is this significant? For two reasons: cost and magazine size. APKWS is very cheap, the guidance section only costs $15 000, and the warheads and rocket motors, of which millions are currently in US stockpiles, only cost a few thousand dollars each, for a total cost of between $20 000 - $25 000 per missile/guided rocket. In comparison, an AIM-9 Sidewinder missile launched from US fighter aircraft costs upwards of $400 000 each, and the ship launched SM series of interceptors cost anywhere from $2 -$9 million, depending on the model. So this is a very significant cost saving for the US, the APKWS guided rockets might even be cheaper than the drones and cruise missiles they shoot down.

The second is magazine size. While a fighter aircraft can only carry a handful of sidewinders and other air to air missiles at a time, it can carry dozens of APKWS rockets at a time, as these rockets can be fitted on seven shot rocket pods, which only take up one hardpoint each. This F/A-18 has 14 APKWS guided rockets on one wing (two 7 shot launchers), for a total of 28 guided rockets if the loadout is replicated symmetrically on the other wing. Note with the adaptor, that two seven shot rocket pods are only using a single hardpoint.

These two factors make defending against drone swarms a possibility, both in terms of being cost effective, and in terms of the amount of guided rockets available at a single given time for intercept missions. This could be why drone and cruise missile attacks on US Navy ships are not as effective as before. While in Ukraine the use of APKWS guided rockets is limited to their ground and sea based launching systems, such as technicals and fastboats, the United States does not have such limitations and can fit these to aircraft, enabling defence over a much wider area. The APKWS guided rockets themselves have a very short range, only a few kilometres/miles, meaning that they can only defend a very limited area from ground/sea based launch platforms. So mounting them to a fighter aircraft vastly increases the area that can be defended by them, and detection capabilities for drones out of range of the APKWS (fighter aircraft have their own radar).

Make no mistake, the US military is learning their lessons when it comes to the Ukraine war, the confrontations with Ansarallah in the Red Sea, and defending against Iranian ballistic missiles.

[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

This is a pretty important development. The cost of interceptors is less important than their availability. Good catch.

[–] MarmiteLover123@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

It's quite a depressing development from a resistance perspective (which I guess almost all of us share) because it means now that the US Carrier Strike Group (CSG) only needs to remain out of range of Ansarallah's anti ship ballistic missiles(ASBMs), (max range 500km for Tankeel/Raad-500, maybe 700km if Iran gives them Zolfogar Basir), and that the CSG can just absorb the long range drone and cruise missile attacks, the few that get through the air patrols can be dealt with by the ships themselves. While remaining outside of the range of ASBMs is blunting the CSG's attacks and US airstrikes as the US fighter planes have to fly longer distances, airstrikes are still happening, and the CSG is not being driven to the extreme north of the Red Sea or anything like that anymore (aside from maybe day two of this lastest conflict).

Editing to say that satellite imagery from the 19th March 2025 has confirmed this, the USS Harry Truman is operating off of the coast of Jeddah, around 700-800km from Yemen. So outside of ASBM range (Zolfogar Basir has a 700km range), but within the range of cruise missiles and drones. This explains why Ansarallah did not launch any ASBMs over the past two nights, the CSG was out of range.

The solution is probably to give Ansarallah longer range ASBMs, but that's an idea with its own big issues. The short range ASBMs Ansarallah currently use don't have any midcourse guidance updates, they fire them at the general location the enemy ship is expected to be at, the Manoeuvrable Re-entry Vehicle (MaRV) of the missile does a pull up manoeuvre and performs a short glide phase, in which it's terminal guidance systems (EO/IR sensors or radar) locate the target and dive down to it. This all happenes in a handful of minutes, the Tankeel/Raad 500 has a burnout velocity of Mach 8 (2.7 kilometres per second), and an impact velocity of probably around Mach 1.5-2. A ship can't move that far in that time, which is why this approach works, from missile launch to glide phase, the ship can't move out of the effective range of the terminal guidance systems on the MaRV. Once you start trying to hit ships over longer ranges, the ships can move further, and you need midcourse guidance updates to ensure that the MaRV arrives in a close enough proximity to the target for the terminal guidance systems to work. Who is going to provide that midcourse guidance? Iran with their own ships, or Iran giving Ansarallah long range radars that datalink to the ASBMs? I think the US would consider that an act of war. I also don't think Ansarallah has this capability themselves. China's ASBMs use AWACS aircraft to provide midcourse guidance updates for instance. That's a capability not currently in the possession of Iran or Ansarallah.

Another solution would be really fast (Mach 3+) cruise missiles or really stealthy subsonic cruise missiles. But I don't see Russia or China giving these weapons to Ansarallah.

[–] miz@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago

how about underwater drones, like a submarine version of their drone boats?

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[–] xiaohongshu@hexbear.net 2 points 1 month ago (5 children)

On the topic of what China should be doing about Israel, this one has gone under the radar for obvious reasons: PowerChina Completes Israel’s Largest Pumped Storage Power Station

The Kokhav Hayarden Pumped Storage Power Station, constructed by Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina), has been officially commissioned for commercial operation. The project is the world’s lowest-altitude pumped storage power station and the largest of its kind in Israel.

As a key national infrastructure project in Israel, the power station is located in the Gilboa mountain range in northeastern Israel. It is also the first pumped storage project undertaken by a Chinese company overseas.

Designed with a total installed capacity of 344 megawatts, the station features upper and lower reservoirs, each with a storage capacity of 3.1 million cubic meters. Operating with a rated head of 410 meters, the facility is equipped with two reversible pump-turbine units, each with a capacity of 172 MW. Once operational, it will play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and stability of Israel’s power grid.

The project was executed under an engineering, procurement and construction contract, which was awarded to a consortium comprising PowerChina and General Electric Company.

China is exporting its state-of-the-art technology to help build Israel’s infrastructure. Maybe they should invite Israel to join Belt and Road as well.

[–] BynarsAreOk@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Maybe they should invite Israel to join Belt and Road as well.

A trip though the good old times of... 2018. Contradictory and sometimes problematic an outlet as they can be, it summarizes a lot of what is discussed these days.

None of this is new and most observers knew where it was going years ago.

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[–] newmou@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago

Some of the darkest offhand shit I’ve read jfc “a flawless execution” Louisiana puts man to death in state’s first nitrogen gas execution

Jessie Hoffman Jr., 46, was pronounced dead at 6:50 p.m. at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, authorities said, adding the nitrogen gas had flowed for 19 minutes during what one official characterized as a “flawless” execution.

Witnesses to the execution said Hoffman appeared to involuntarily shake or had “some convulsive activity.” But the three witnesses who spoke — including two members of the media — agreed that, based on the protocol and what they learned about the execution method, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Witness Gina Swanson, a reporter with WDSU, described the execution from her viewpoint as “clinical” and “procedural.” She said there was nothing that occurred during the process that made her think, “Was that right? Was that how it was supposed to go?”

[–] SoyViking@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago

Random headline from Danish state media news website:

The EU started as a peace project. Now the countries have to prepare for war to preserve the peace.

(It's about a EU commission report saying that if we don't build a Death Star within five years, Putin is going to come and eat our poodles or something. Call me a lib, I'm not linking to this filth)

I would hate to live in authoritarian "jungle" countries like Russia or China where the media spews regime propaganda in the face of people.

[–] very_poggers_gay@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago (8 children)

Amal Saad on israel's genocide:

Waking up once again to the hellscape of Israel’s latest genocidal crimes, it’s hard to escape the conclusion that Hamas and the Axis of Resistance were not merely weakened by Israel’s military, intelligence, or technological superiority. This war has always been asymmetrical, and while Israel has made significant advancements in these areas, they are not the primary reason for the Axis of Resistance’s massive losses. Israel could have possessed unmatched military and intelligence capabilities, yet without the collapse of even the illusion of ethical constraints, it could never have unleashed destruction on this scale.

What is truly defeating these forces is that the US-led unipolar world order has ushered in a new kind of superiority—one where raw brutality has supplanted military dominance as the highest form of power. It is not merely an abandonment of humanity, but a full-scale war against it—a war on moral and legal restraints, not just their erosion but their outright annihilation.

The goal is not just genocide and annihilation but to make an example of Palestine—both for those within and beyond the empire’s reach. It is an attempt to extinguish not just the Palestinian cause but any remaining trace of “optimism of the will” and all the forms of resistance this sustains.

interesting analysis, imo

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[–] GnastyGnuts@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago (11 children)

What would it take for the rest of the world to give israel the proper pariah-state treatment and sanction / politically isolate them?

[–] Evilphd666@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago

BDS expand to those who give military, financial, logistical support to Pissreal and those who facilitate Pissreal's actions.

[–] newmou@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago

What would it take for this fucking stick to finally snap is my question

[–] RaisedFistJoker@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago

nuke leading to considerablre fallout zones in europe? even then i feel like the euros would just take it

[–] Boise_Idaho@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago

IMO:

The West and vassals of the West like the ROK: They will continue to recognize the state of Israel until the bitter end even if "Israel" is just various rental properties in Brooklyn and Miami. It will be like the ROC/PRC situation where the West will pretend that the state of Israel still exists and that the state of Palestine doesn't exist.

Arab comprador regimes: They will probably cease normalization once the Zionist entity have taken too many L's in order to defuse an ever deteriorating domestic situation. This "denormalization" will be in name only, mostly amounting to expelling official diplomats and giving nice sounding speeches.

Russia and China: IMO, they will continue to recognize the Zionist entity and issue generic statements that aren't worth the paper they're printed on up to the point where Al Qassam is marching on the streets of liberated Jaffa. Meanwhile, they will quietly supply the Axis of Resistance with weapons behind the scenes and increase the shipment of weapons once the collapse of the Zionist entity becomes inevitable.

The rest of the world: They will largely just not rock the boat, but will be quicker than Russia and China in severing diplomatic ties with the Zionist entity.

All of this assumes that the Axis of Resistance is defeating the IOF on the battlefield. People will make their moves based on how tenable the Zionist entity's existence as a state is, which is entirely contingent on how strong the IOF is and how well the IOF can perform on the battlefield.

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[–] bbnh69420@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Border between Lebanon and Syria is looking tense. Ceasefire may not be long for this world

“There are mobilizations from both the Syrian and Lebanese sides. The Lebanese army is bringing reinforcements to the border, in addition to mobilizing members of the Bekaa tribes. Syrian factions are also installing rocket launchers.”

https://t.me/Syria115/1578

[–] sictransitgloria@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

fucking why ffs

the whole region is a disaster

[–] bbnh69420@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago

We know the answer to this: colonialism/imperialism by way of the Brits/French and now the Americans

[–] Coolkidbozzy@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

so this will get the Lebanese army to mobilize, but not israel occupying south lebanon, bombs in Beirut, and a full war against Hezbollah? I don't understand their government

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[–] Evilphd666@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (4 children)

No redactions my ass. But what are there is reams and reams of US fuckery with Cuba and Castro. US plotting on manufacturing false flags of deliberate harm or death to US personnel, soilders, Cuban exiles. Sabatoging socialist meetings in their early development. Using VOA to to "Black propaganda" in foriegn nations.

Also the fustration with not being able to launch these types of attacks from the US Homeland as that would violate US policy. They really didn't care who was hurt or harmed as long as it would trigger the overthrow of Castro.

[–] bbnh69420@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I want a megathread where we just post these screenshots, because I'm addicted. I wonder what else happened to mlk in 68

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[–] miz@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

just found out about the Burmese PLA and I would like to know more

People’s Liberation Army - PLA 4th Anniversary Celebration

March 15, 2025

The People’s Liberation Army - PLA 4th Anniversary Celebration was held today, March 15, in a liberated area.

The ceremony included the hoisting of the People’s Liberation Army flag, the salute of the Communist Party of Burma and the People’s Liberation Army flag by all commanders and soldiers, a gun salute to fallen comrades, singing the People’s Army song, a parade, a march to salute the People’s Liberation Army Commander-in-Chief, and speeches by leaders.

The ceremony concluded with the singing of the International Anthem, marking the 4th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army Day.

The People’s Liberation Army - PLA, the military arm of the Communist Party of Burma, was re-established on March 15, 2021, and has been in operation for 4 years today.

“Every step of the People’s Liberation Army is for the benefit of the oppressed people.”

“Let all enemies tremble in fear, let all people rejoice.”

soruce: https://t.me/plaburmainfo

[–] carpoftruth@hexbear.net 1 points 1 month ago (6 children)

https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/the-iran-war-plan

Ken on the escalation towards open war with Iran and differences between Biden and trump. I'm not sure I believe that the recent US strikes against ansarallah were as successful as stated here (hitting leadership)

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