Agricultural production has come to a halt in Sudan’s breadbasket, Gezira.

The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) are on the retreat after the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) stormed across Gezira last week, disrupting harvest in this State which produces half of all the wheat grown in Sudan.

Farmers are too terrified to return to their fields, and have in some areas “gone so far as to flood canals and sacrifice their harvest in order to make it difficult for RSF to enter,” said Jamal (name changed), spokesperson of the Resistance Committees (RC) in Hasahisa city.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/01/01/war-in-sudan-engulfs-agricultural-heartland-amid-record-levels-of-hunger/

Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine is entering a new phase. President Vladimir Putin lifted the fog of war and hinted at what can be expected going forward.

An article by M.K. Bhadrakumar.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/01/02/putin-lifts-the-fog-of-war-in-ukraine/

🇱🇧 Tuesday’s attack is the first time that the Israeli Air Force has bombed Beirut since 2006. Analysts warn that such an attack is likely to provoke a response from regional resistance groups which have thus far been holding back from large-scale attacks against Israel.

As journalist Rania Khalek of Breakthrough News commented, “Israel is playing with fire by assassinating Hamas officials in Beirut. They are begging for escalation. But Hezbollah is a powerful adversary capable of doing great damage to Israel… If Israel can’t defeat Qassam, which is operating under the harshest conditions from inside a besieged death camp, there is no way they can even begin to properly face the larger and more powerful Hezbollah without severe consequences.”
#BREAKING
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/01/02/senior-hamas-leader-killed-in-unprecedented-israeli-drone-attack-in-beirut/

People in #NYC marched on New Year's Eve, Dec 31, to demand an immediate #ceasefire and an end to the US-backed Zionist occupation of Palestine. While Biden continues to express full support to Israel, the people of the United States demand #FreePalestine.
#ShutItDown4Palestine

Iranian navy’s Alborz destroyer entered the Red Sea via the Bab al-Mandab on Monday, January 1. Iranian deployment comes amidst the growing tension in the region in the context of Israel’s continued war in Gaza.

The news of Iranian deployment to the Red Sea comes specifically a day after the US attacked three Yemeni vessels in the area, killing at least 10 soldiers.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/01/02/iran-deploys-warship-in-red-sea-amidst-rising-tensions/

Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates formally joined the BRICS group on Monday, January 1, 2024.

On the occasion of its assuming the rotating presidency of BRICS for 2024, Russian president Vladimir Putin welcomed the new members in the grouping. He claimed that the expansion of BRICS is “a strong indication of the growing authority of the association and its role in international affairs.”

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/01/02/five-new-countries-including-saudi-arabia-and-iran-formally-join-brics/

Leftists, along with other anti-imperialists and peace groups, have raised concerns about the use of weapons made in Norway by Israel in the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza.
Activists demanded end-user declarations to countries to which Norway sells weapons so that it will be possible to control where the weapons end up. https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/01/03/anti-imperialists-protest-use-of-norwegian-weapons-by-israel/

Following two explosions in the Iranian city of Kerman, 103 people have been reported dead and 188 injured.

The explosions occurred during a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of the martyrdom of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the United States on January 3, 2020. The death toll is expected to rise as ambulances transport the wounded to hospitals.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/01/03/103-killed-in-terrorist-attack-near-qassem-soleimanis-burial-site-in-iran/

🇵🇷/🇵🇸 Within the boundaries of US-occupied Puerto Rico, the movement for Palestinian liberation has been growing.

This latest outpouring of support for the Palestinian cause is nothing new on the island. There is in fact a rich history of solidarity with Palestine in Puerto Rico.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/01/03/from-within-the-us-occupied-nation-of-puerto-rico-solidarity-with-palestine-grows/

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🇱🇧 Israel carried out numerous artillery, drone and air strikes in southern Lebanon villages on Thursday, January 4 killing at least four Hezbollah soldiers and destroying substantial amounts of civilian infrastructure.

In retaliation to Israeli attacks Hezbollah launched several rockets inside northern Israel. The number of casualties or amount of destruction on the Israeli side were not confirmed.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/01/04/hezbollah-warns-israel-of-retaliation-calls-out-international-community-for-inaction/

Hassan Sharif, a New Jersey imam and community leader, passed away on January 3, hours after he was shot multiple times in front of his mosque as he headed into morning prayer.

Since October 7, Islamophobic and anti-Arab attacks have risen dramatically in the United States, with CAIR reporting an “unprecedented” spike in requests for help and bias reports between October 7 and November 5.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/01/04/new-jersey-imam-and-community-leader-succumbs-to-wounds-after-being-shot/

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🇮🇶 On Thursday, January 4, the Iraqi government called the US attack on the headquarters of semi-official armed group Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) or Hashd al-Shaabi “a dangerous escalation and aggression against the country’s sovereignty.”
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/01/05/iraq-slams-us-attack-on-pmf-headquarters-as-violation-of-sovereignty/

Over the past few weeks, at least two states in India, governed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), have issued notices for the recruitment of construction workers to be sent to Israel.

Reports emerged towards the end of last year that Israel was seeking to hire up to 100,000 workers from India to replace Palestinian workers in its construction sector.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/01/05/indian-construction-workers-reject-labor-export-deal-to-israel-as-sinister-ploy-reaffirm-solidarity-with-palestine/

The number of people infected with contagious diseases in Gaza continues to rise. The latest data from the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that 180,000 people are currently suffering from respiratory infections.

While these diseases would not be deadly under conditions with a functioning health system and adequate living conditions, in the current situation, they could be life-threatening.
https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/01/05/israel-is-decimating-gazas-health-infrastructure-as-disease-threatens-the-majority-of-its-population/

The fact is, that January 6 was not a populist uprising, although many of the participants were indeed working class people swept up in the fervor of the moment. At multiple levels, January 6 was an operation financed and led by establishment political figures and ultra-wealthy donors.

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2024/01/06/chief-financiers-remain-at-large-following-the-january-6-insurrection-on-the-us-capitol/