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American service members will no longer be required to get a yearly flu shot under a new Defense Department policy described by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as an effort to “restore freedom and strength to our joint force.”

Calling the Covid-19 vaccine mandate part of an “era of betrayal” that was now “over,” Hegseth said the Pentagon was discarding “absurd, overreaching mandates that only weaken our war fighting capabilities,” such as “the universal flu vaccine and the mandate behind it.”

What stage of imperial decline is this?

Iran is often seen through the lens of oil and gas. That image is understandable, but it is increasingly incomplete. In the energy system of the future, Iran’s most important strategic resource may not be underground at all. It may be the sun. With excellent solar conditions, vast land availability, and a strong industrial base, Iran has the potential to do far more than simply add renewable electricity to its existing system. It could build an entirely new economic model around low-cost solar PV and use that advantage across power, heat, transport, industry, and water supplies.

A recent study by LUT University on Pathways to a Fully Renewable Energy System in Iran shows that such a transition is technically possible and economically attractive. The study examines how Iran could move toward a fully renewable energy system by 2050 across five major sectors: power, heat, transport, industry, and desalination. The results point to something much bigger than a conventional power sector transition. They show the outline of a new energy economy in which solar PV becomes the backbone of the system and renewable electricity becomes the driver of change across the wider economy. Sunbelt countries are especially well placed to build low-cost, solar-led power systems with manageable balancing needs. Earlier research has already highlighted this advantage for the power sector, and the new modelling confirms that solar PV’s role could extend to the backbone of the entire energy-industry system.

Interesting article discussing the potential for Iran to pivot towards solar energy. After the war ends, Iran could rebuild their industry and energy systems around clean energy, especially solar PV, leveraging their favourable geography and existing industrial strength. If Iran can negotiate sanctions relief or even reperations, they might be able to move even faster than what this report says.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/44430267

China’s Foreign Ministry has announced that the ⁠Red ⁠Cross Society of China will send $200,000 in emergency ⁠humanitarian aid to the Iranian Red ⁠Crescent Society.

It said the funds will be specifically designated for parents of students who have been killed in the war.

Speaking at a news briefing, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Beijing “condemns all indiscriminate attacks on civilians”.

China’s Foreign Ministry has announced that the ⁠Red ⁠Cross Society of China will send $200,000 in emergency ⁠humanitarian aid to the Iranian Red ⁠Crescent Society.

It said the funds will be specifically designated for parents of students who have been killed in the war.

Speaking at a news briefing, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Beijing “condemns all indiscriminate attacks on civilians”.

Investments by German companies in China hit a ​four-year high in 2025, data compiled for Reuters shows, underscoring how U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policy is pushing industries and ‌governments to boost business ties elsewhere.

The previously unreported data from the IW German Economic Institute showed investments in China rose to more than 7 billion euros ($8 billion) between January and November last year, up 55.5% from 4.5 billion euros in 2024 and 2023.

German fan and motor maker ebm-papst said that last year it invested 30 million euros in expanding its Chinese operations, accounting for more than a fifth of total investments, in order to produce more where its customers are.

"This model has proven to be an important anchor of stability, especially in times of tariffs and ​geopolitical tensions," the company said in a statement, adding it was also planning to ‍expand its U.S. business this year.

An increase of 55.5% is genuinely quite a lot. Especially since German investments in US nearly halved in Trump's first year back

The mainstream media in the West is committed to portraying the protests in Iran as strictly an internal affair. The people of Iran, so the argument goes, spontaneously rose up against their government because they were in desperate straits due to their leaders’ corruption and mismanagement of the economy, as well as their oppressive policies. Virtually all the protestors in this story were peaceful, but their protests were met with government violence. Outside forces had little to do with causing the protests.

This interpretation of what happened in Iran is wrong and contradicted by an abundance of evidence. None of this is to deny that there were many peaceful protestors who had legitimate grievances against the government, but that is only part of the story.

If fact, what happened in Iran is an attempt by the Israeli & American tag team to overthrow the government in Tehran and break apart Iran, much the way the US, Turkey, and Israel fractured Syria.

But the strategy failed, mainly because the Iranian government was able to shut down the protests quickly and decisively. A key element in the government’s success was shutting down Starlink, which made it extremely difficult for the protestors to communicate with each other and the outside world. Once that happened, the protests were doomed and both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Trump understood that the tag team could not use military force to deliver the coup de gras. The Iranian regime had survived.

The bottom line is two-fold: 1) the tag team failed to overthrow the regime in Iran, although it surely has not given up on that goal; and 2) there is good reason to think that Israel and the US did not win the 12-Day war.

The mainstream media in the West is committed to portraying the protests in Iran as strictly an internal affair. The people of Iran, so the argument goes, spontaneously rose up against their government because they were in desperate straits due to their leaders’ corruption and mismanagement of the economy, as well as their oppressive policies. Virtually all the protestors in this story were peaceful, but their protests were met with government violence. Outside forces had little to do with causing the protests.

This interpretation of what happened in Iran is wrong and contradicted by an abundance of evidence. None of this is to deny that there were many peaceful protestors who had legitimate grievances against the government, but that is only part of the story.

If fact, what happened in Iran is an attempt by the Israeli & American tag team to overthrow the government in Tehran and break apart Iran, much the way the US, Turkey, and Israel fractured Syria.

But the strategy failed, mainly because the Iranian government was able to shut down the protests quickly and decisively. A key element in the government’s success was shutting down Starlink, which made it extremely difficult for the protestors to communicate with each other and the outside world. Once that happened, the protests were doomed and both Prime Minister Netanyahu and Trump understood that the tag team could not use military force to deliver the coup de gras. The Iranian regime had survived.

The bottom line is two-fold: 1) the tag team failed to overthrow the regime in Iran, although it surely has not given up on that goal; and 2) there is good reason to think that Israel and the US did not win the 12-Day war.

Interesting analysis by John Mearsheimer. Obviously he's not a Marxist, but I think this piece is pretty good.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/41497146

Archived Link: https://archive.is/keXQU

Turkey is lobbying to join a defence pact between Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan, a potential move that could create a new military bloc in the Middle East amid rising tensions in the Gulf and Iran.

Bloomberg reported on Friday that the talks between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are at an “advanced stage and a deal is very likely”, citing people familiar with the matter.

If Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia sign a trilateral defence pact, it would link three of the region’s largest countries, each with unique advantages.

• Oil-rich Saudi Arabia is the Arab world’s only G-20 economy and home to Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities in Islam.
• Pakistan is the Muslim-world’s only nuclear-armed state.
• Turkey, which straddles Asia and Europe, boosts Nato’s second-largest army.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/41497146

Archived Link: https://archive.is/keXQU

Turkey is lobbying to join a defence pact between Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan, a potential move that could create a new military bloc in the Middle East amid rising tensions in the Gulf and Iran.

Bloomberg reported on Friday that the talks between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are at an “advanced stage and a deal is very likely”, citing people familiar with the matter.

If Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia sign a trilateral defence pact, it would link three of the region’s largest countries, each with unique advantages.

• Oil-rich Saudi Arabia is the Arab world’s only G-20 economy and home to Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities in Islam.
• Pakistan is the Muslim-world’s only nuclear-armed state.
• Turkey, which straddles Asia and Europe, boosts Nato’s second-largest army.

Archived Link: https://archive.is/keXQU

Turkey is lobbying to join a defence pact between Saudi Arabia and nuclear-armed Pakistan, a potential move that could create a new military bloc in the Middle East amid rising tensions in the Gulf and Iran.

Bloomberg reported on Friday that the talks between Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are at an “advanced stage and a deal is very likely”, citing people familiar with the matter.

If Pakistan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia sign a trilateral defence pact, it would link three of the region’s largest countries, each with unique advantages.

• Oil-rich Saudi Arabia is the Arab world’s only G-20 economy and home to Mecca and Medina, the two holiest cities in Islam.
• Pakistan is the Muslim-world’s only nuclear-armed state.
• Turkey, which straddles Asia and Europe, boosts Nato’s second-largest army.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/40403119

https://ember-energy.org/latest-insights/the-ev-leapfrog-how-emerging-markets-are-driving-a-global-ev-boom/

39 countries have reached an EV sales share larger than 10% in 2025, a third of which are outside Europe. In 2019, there were only four countries that had reached this milestone, all within Europe. Notably, China reached over 50% EV sales share for the first time this year. Between January and October 2025, EVs have made up over a quarter of global new car sales, up from less than 3% in 2019.

Chinese EV exports are finding new markets outside the OECD. Since July 2023, non-OECD markets have been responsible for all the growth in Chinese EV exports, with Mexico, Brazil, UAE and Indonesia emerging as top destinations in 2025.

Several ASEAN countries now have among the highest EV sales penetration of any country in the world. Close to 40% of Viet Nam’s new car sales this year have been EVs, almost all of them battery electric vehicles made by local manufacturer VinFast. It is now gaining ground on regional leader Singapore, where the EV sales share has exceeded 40% of new car sales so far in 2025.

Due to their high levels of efficiency, electric vehicles are a powerful tool to reduce fossil fuel dependence. Whereas ICE vehicles waste around 80% of the energy in the fuel, EVs use close to 80% of the electricity they consume. This leads to large reductions in overall fossil fuel consumption even if a country’s electricity supply is heavily dependent on fossil generation.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/40358266

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/u-s-investors-are-going-big-on-china-ai-despite-concerns-in-congress-cb9a71c5

Archived Link

U.S. investors are plowing money into Chinese companies involved in artificial intelligence, despite growing competition between Washington and Beijing over the technology.

Investors are driving up the share prices of Chinese tech companies developing AI models and adding cash to exchange-traded funds tracking the broader tech sector in China. Venture-capital firms based in China are raising U.S. dollar-denominated funds to deploy in AI investments, and U.S. endowments that shunned China for years are weighing a return, according to fund managers.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) said Sunday that “investments propping up Communist China’s aggression must come to an end.”

Critical support?