03-16-2024, 02:22 AM
EUROPE
AFRICA
Russia
Quote:Russia on Friday began a sham three-day election engineered to give President Vladimir Putin another six years in power, with any likely rivals long since intimidated into dropping out, jailed, or killed.
On the latter score, supporters of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny urged Russians to cast protest votes against Putin as a final tribute to his most persistent political adversary.
Navalny supporters dubbed their protest strategy “Noon Against Putin.” Navalny himself endorsed the scheme in one of the last messages he sent to supporters before his mysterious death in an Arctic prison colony last month.
Participants were asked to visit their local polling station at noon, obtain a ballot, and then use it for some gesture of contempt or defiance — from tearing up the paper ballot to writing Navalny in as a candidate.
Actually voting for one of the candidates ostensibly running against Putin was considered the least effective means of registering discontent, since all of them are regarded as “puppets” of the Kremlin, planted in the race just to give Putin the illusion of meaningful opposition.
Navalny’s widow Yulia endorsed the protest and said she was heartened by the level of support her late husband still receives.
“Looking at you, I am convinced that everything is not in vain, and this thought gives me strength. Now you all know that there are actually a lot of us, all those who love and support Alexei, who share his ideas and, as long as we have each other, it’s not over,” she said.
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Navalny previously developed a tactic called “smart voting” that involved taking every opportunity to cast votes against Putin’s United Russia party, to leave him with the smallest possible presence in the legislature. Navalny’s allies compiled lists of opposing candidates and advised supporters on who they could vote for to deliver the maximum possible humiliation to Putin.
Ukraine & Russia
Quote:Both sides claim to have the upper hand in the Belgorod and Kursk regions after Kyiv-loyal forces staged a counter-invasion of Russian border areas this week, which is now in its fourth day.
War has come to the Russian mainland and the country will not be allowed to “live in peace” until it withdraws from Ukrainian territory, a top Kyiv official states as another announces Russian territory has become “an area of active combat actions”. Ukraine claims combat successes including the destruction of Russian military infrastructure inside Russia proper, but Moscow denies these claims out of hand, asserting its forces have prevented incursions and that all damage is down to a “massive” artillery attack by Ukraine.
As previously reported, three paramilitary units which Ukraine says are manned by Russian citizens opposed to the Vladimir Putin government launched cross-border strikes into Russia itself in the early hours of Tuesday morning. While similar attacks took place last year they were short-lived skirmishes, and the battles this week appear to be the largest of their kind in the war so far.
One of those anti-Putin Russian militias equipped by Ukraine, the Freedom of Russia Legion, said they have destroyed two of Russian army warehouses in the Kursk region and that they had advised local residents to evacuate from the impacted areas, or else stay indoors for their own safety. A spokesman for the group claimed thousands of civilian cars had attempted to make the journey, but Ukraine has stated Russian forces have been preventing would-be refugees from leaving, leading to claims they were using civilians as human shields.
Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s defence intelligence agency asserted his organisation had intercepted communications from Russia “stating that the main transport hubs are cordoned off by law enforcement, roadblocks have been set up” and that residents were being threatened with fines, or even losing their jobs is they attempted to flee.
The senior spy also spoke on Thursday to hail what the claimed success of the attack on Russia by “Russian citizens who, having no other options, are defending their civil right with arms against the Putin regime”. He said, as a result: “Kursk and Belgorod regions are now an area of active combat actions. This is what we confirm”.
Ukraine’s Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksii Danilov emphasised the counter-invasion was an act of revenge and that such actions would continue until Russia ended its war against Ukraine. He said: “I want to say that if Putin believed that the war would not come to Russia, he is deeply mistaken. It will come and it will come quite far… We will not let this monster live in peace until it gets out of our territory”.
Britain’s Daily Telegraph reported they had spoken to one anti-Putin militia leader, Denis Nikitin — who they described as a “notorious… white extremist” — who said the Russian resistance needs Western backers. He said, allegedly from a combat unit inside Russian territory: “If the West wants to win this war, they should help us … the only real opposition to Putin is us, Russian citizens who took up arms and are fighting … People in the West should ask themselves – do they want to actually stop Putin or do they want to just pretend they’re helping?”.
Macron on Russia
Quote:If Ukraine’s defence crumbled France would step in to prevent a Russian victory, President Emmanuel Macron has said, saying those leaders that call for limits to Western intervention have chosen “defeat”.
French President Emmanuel Macron has made yet another explosive intervention in the ongoing debate over Western involvement in Ukraine’s defence against the Russian invasion. The President continues to absolutely reject the general NATO position that donating arms and ammunition and providing training to help keep the country independent of Moscow is positive, but becoming directly involved as a combatant is not.
The suggestion there could be Western boots on the ground was unspoken until last month when Macron voiced it for the first time, and has refused to be cowed on it despite concerned reactions from other NATO leaders since.
Speaking to French television on Thursday night, President Macron said while he was deliberately vague about what exactly he had in mind to keep his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin guessing, nevertheless he believes the Ukraine war is “existential” to Europe and France and a Russian victory should not be permitted. He told his interviewers that: “If Russia wins the war in Ukraine, Europe’s credibility would be reduced to zero”, reports France24.
The comments came just hours before the President and his German and Polish counterparts met in Berlin on Friday to discuss Ukraine, a clear move by Macron to set the agenda for the meeting with leaders who have made clear they wish to avoid direct contact with the Russians.
A Russian victory in Ukraine would mean more wars in Eastern Europe, Macron predicted last night, and while France “will never go on the offensive” and draw first blood, nevertheless he clearly telegraphed it would be willing to step in to prevent a Ukrainian defeat. The President continued: “France is a force for peace… Today, in order to have peace in Ukraine, we must not be weak, and so we must look at the situation lucidly and say with determination, strong will and courage that we are ready to use all the means at our disposal to achieve our objective, which is that Russia should not win.”
Appealing to his allies, Macron fell back onto an argument he has used previously in recent weeks, that at the start of the Ukraine war the NATO allies said it would be too much of an escalation to send battle tanks to Kyiv, but eventually, they were sent. Then the West said it would be too escalatory to send cruise missiles, and yet they were delivered too. Anyone who chooses to limit what further support Ukraine might need in the future, he said, was choosing defeat.
Macron told the interviewer: “if we decided to be weak, if we decided today that we would not respond, it would be choosing defeat already. And I don’t want that”.
As stated by the French premiere, if Russia looked like it would win in Ukraine, NATO would end up fighting Moscow anyway, either in defence of Ukraine or later, when Russia moves on to “threaten Moldova, Romania and Poland”, as Macron said he believed they would.
Danish Women & Conscription
Quote:Denmark is extending conscription, more than doubling the period of mandatory service, calling up more young people, and requiring women to enrol in the lottery for selection for the first time.
Women are to be conscripted into the Danish armed forces, as the nation’s leadership says it is seeking to deter aggression by being better prepared for war. Under the plan, which wouldn’t come into force until 2026, mandatory military service would dramatically increase from four months to 11, encompassing five months of training followed by six of service.
Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said protecting the nation is an honour for those conscripted, saying: “We do not rearm because we want war. We are rearming because we want to avoid it… we propose full equality between the sexes.” The Foreign Minister emphasised Russia does not pose a direct threat to Denmark, but expanding the military now is about preventing “ourselves [coming] to a place where they could come to do that”.
Defence minister Troels Lund Poulsen says the European security situation “has become more and more serious, and we have to take that into account when we look at future defense… a broader basis for recruiting that includes all genders is needed.”
As things stand presently, all men are required to report to a military depot on ‘Defence Day’ to be physically assessed to determine whether they are fit for callup, and then entered into a lottery. Although millions of people in Denmark are technically eligible to be conscripted, actually the nation’s military is one of the smallest in Europe and only around four thousand people are presently in mandatory service at any one time.
Under the plan, women aged 18 would also be obliged to attend Defence Day and enter the service lottery.
Between the increase in length of service by more than double, and a slight increase of the total number of conscripts by 300, the number of people serving in the Danish armed forces is forecast to grow by a not inconsiderate proportion in the coming years, leading those presently serving to ask whether the force is capable of absorbing more conscripts. The Danish Broadcasting Corporation reports there is already a shortage of housing, equipment, and senior soldiers in the armed forces, all of which would be put under extra pressure by the arrival of more recruits.
Germany Cares About Green Policies
Quote:Germany’s greenhouse gas emissions dropped by one-tenth last year as renewable energy grew in importance, the use of coal and gas diminished and economic pressures weighed on businesses and consumers, official data showed Friday.
Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, who is also the economy and climate minister, said Europe’s biggest economy is on course to meet its target for 2030 of cutting emissions by 65%, compared with 1990.
Germany aims to cut its emissions to net zero by 2045 and is working to ramp up the use of solar and wind power and other renewable sources.
The country’s environmental protection agency said that Germany emitted about 673 million tons of greenhouse gases in 2023, a decline of 76 million tons or 10.1%, compared with the previous year. It was the strongest decline since 1990.
The agency pointed to Germany’s “very successful expansion of renewable energies” but cautioned that progress in cutting emissions is not satisfactory across the board. It said more needs to be done in the transport sector in particular, for example by expanding electric mobility and cutting some subsidies.
Habeck’s ministry said projections for the coming years point to a decline in emissions by 2030 of nearly 64%, compared with 1990.
“Germany is on course, for the first time,” Habeck said in a statement. “If we stick to our course, we will reach our 2030 climate targets.”
That, he said, can be done with a recovering economy.
Germany was one of the worst-performing major developed economies last year, weighed down by high energy prices, global economic weakness and interest rate hikes to fight inflation. The country is home to many energy-intensive companies, including in the chemical and metal industries.
Trump & NATO
Quote:During an interview with CBS News on Thursday, U.S. Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith stated that Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden have all “pushed” NATO members to boost their defense spending to 2% of GDP and Trump does deserve “credit” for the increase in NATO members meeting the defense spending target and that having members meet their obligations “is ultimately good for the United States and good for our allies.”
Smith said, “What we decided ten years ago is that every member of this alliance should spend 2% of their own GDP on their own defense. And by investing in their own defense, it ultimately makes the alliance stronger, because we have better forces, better capabilities, and the ability to support one another for any threat that we might face. … [W]e started with just three allies in the alliance spending 2%, and this year, we’re going to be somewhere between 18 and 20 allies spending 2%. So, that’s a huge leap. I credit three U.S. Presidents: President Obama, President Trump, President Biden, they’ve all pushed on this. And now, we have two-thirds of the alliance spending what they need. We still have work to do. We’re going to get those other allies across the line in the next couple of years. Everybody has a plan in place, but, ultimately, the bottom line is, a stronger NATO means that it can help protect America’s interests, and it can help protect the interests of our allies. So, an alliance that is spending more is ultimately good for the United States and good for our allies.”
Later, Smith stated, “In terms of some of the rhetoric we’ve heard out on the campaign trail in the United States, what I will say is encouraging the Kremlin to attack NATO allies is absolutely irresponsible and irrational, but it’s also dangerous. It puts the lives of U.S. troops at risk, and it puts the lives of allied soldiers at risk.”
AFRICA
South Africa Wants to Arrest Citizens Fighting for Israel
Quote:South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said on Sunday that citizens who fight on Israel’s behalf in the Gaza war will be arrested when they return home to South Africa.
“I have already issued a statement alerting those who are South African and who are fighting alongside or in the Israeli Defense Forces. We are ready. When you come home, we’re going to arrest you,” Pandor said at a “Palestinian solidarity” conference in Pretoria, which the ruling African National Congress (ANC) Party hosted.
Pandor encouraged ANC loyalists to make posters reading “Stop Genocide” and demonstrate outside the embassies of Israel’s “five primary supporters.” She did not name these countries, but the group would almost certainly include the United States and the United Kingdom.
“Don’t only come to this dinner. Be visible in the support of the people of Palestine,” she told the conference attendees.
Pandor’s comments followed up on a warning from the Foreign Ministry in December that people with dual South African-Israeli citizenship could be prosecuted and stripped of South African citizenship if they join the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) without approval from the government.
The Foreign Ministry expressed “grave concern” in December over reports that “some South African citizens and permanent residents have joined or are considering joining the IDF in the war in Gaza and in the other Occupied Palestinian Territories.”
This was evidently a reference to Israel’s Security Service Law, which stipulates that all citizens must enlist for military service, even dual nationals who do not reside in Israel.
Very Serious Issue, Skip If You Can't Handle it
Quote:Cases of female genital mutilation (FGM) top 230 million worldwide and show no sign of slowing down, UNICEF said in a report released Friday, citing a dramatic increase of 15 percent since 2016 with most cases being reported in Africa.
FGM can include partial or total removal of the clitoris as well as the labia minora, and suturing of the vaginal opening to narrow it, in the incorrect belief the cut can control women’s sexuality and make them more likely to be obedient to religious and social restrictions.
The practice has been known to cause fatal bleeding or infections, and can also have long-term consequences such as fertility problems, childbirth complications, stillbirth and painful sexual intercourse, AFP reports.
“It is indeed bad news. This is a huge number, a number that is bigger than ever before,” said Claudia Coppa, lead author of the report released to coincide with International Women’s Day.
The AFP report sets out Africa is home to the most number of FGM cases with more than 144 million, ahead of Asia (80 million) and the Middle East (six million), according to the survey of 31 countries where the practice is common.
“We’re also seeing a worrying trend that more girls are subjected to the practice at younger ages, many before their fifth birthday,” UNICEF chief Catherine Russell said in a statement.
“That further reduces the window to intervene. We need to strengthen the efforts of ending this harmful practice.”
The report also showed that four in every 10 survivors live in conflict-torn countries with high population growth rates, claiming political instability disrupts efforts prevent the practice and provide support to victims.
“Ethiopia, Nigeria and Sudan account for the largest numbers of girls and women who have undergone female genital mutilation in conflict-affected countries,” the report said.
"For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Thessalonians 5:9
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Maranatha!
The Internet might be either your friend or enemy. It just depends on whether or not she has a bad hair day.
My Original Stories (available in English and Spanish)
List of Compiled Binary Executables I have published...
HiddenChest & Roole
Give me a free copy of your completed game if you include at least 3 of my scripts!
Just some scripts I've already published on the board...
KyoGemBoost XP VX & ACE, RandomEnkounters XP, KSkillShop XP, Kolloseum States XP, KEvents XP, KScenario XP & Gosu, KyoPrizeShop XP Mangostan, Kuests XP, KyoDiscounts XP VX, ACE & MV, KChest XP VX & ACE 2016, KTelePort XP, KSkillMax XP & VX & ACE, Gem Roulette XP VX & VX Ace, KRespawnPoint XP, VX & VX Ace, GiveAway XP VX & ACE, Klearance XP VX & ACE, KUnits XP VX, ACE & Gosu 2017, KLevel XP, KRumors XP & ACE, KMonsterPals XP VX & ACE, KStatsRefill XP VX & ACE, KLotto XP VX & ACE, KItemDesc XP & VX, KPocket XP & VX, OpenChest XP VX & ACE