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When libs say the Russian election were a sham, tell them that putin is basically the Obama of Russia as in a war criminal national hero and if they don't like Putin then they hate Obama.

Venezuela: Maduro government arrests leaders of María Corina Machado's party

According to the country's attorney general, the politician and her allies allegedly planned actions to force her eligibility; the main name against the president, Corina Machado was disqualified from the elections.

Before announcing the arrests, the attorney general presented a video in which Emilio Brandt, one of Corina Machado's collaborators arrested on March 9, confesses to the existence of an alleged plan to unleash a wave of violent protests in the country, which would begin in the state of Barinas and include the seizure of military barracks.

"The mission of the plan [was] to generate destabilization in the country, to agglomerate the masses using unions and student associations to encourage [the uprising of] the military wing," Saab told the press.

Machado described the arrests as "cowardly actions" that seek to "close off Venezuela's path towards change and the freedom of peace and democracy", he wrote on his X account (formerly Twitter). "Venezuelans, I ask you for strength and courage in these difficult times," he said. "Today, more than ever, we need to be united and firm to continue moving forward towards our goals."

Guess Maduro stopped them from commiting the Venezuelan 6th of January. The right in South America is so fucking dumb, Bolsonaro already tried that and it failed.

So is this gonna be one of those decades in a week

In Finland, the confederation of trade unions SAK is in the second week of an ongoing 2-week strike. Now the strike is extended at least another week.

is attacking a hospital again.

US-Based Politicians and Terrorists Were Left Wanting: Diaz-Canel

As defined in the 1960 Mallory Memorandum, Washington still hopes that hunger and deprivation will cause social unrest in Cuba.

On Monday, President Miguel Diaz-Canel warned that the recent events in the city of Santiago de Cuba are being exploited by enemies of the Revolution for destabilizing purposes.

"Yesterday, a parade of infamous wanted to come out to dance with the pain of the Cubans. From Florida, mediocre politicians and social media terrorists lined up to heat the streets of Cuba with interference messages and calls for chaos. They were left wanting," he said.

"We will not tire of fighting against the genocidal blockade nor of explaining to the people the causes of the problems and the Government's efforts to move the economy forward. Together we are stronger," Diaz-Canel said.

The Cuban president also recalled that the U.S. blockade policy emerged 64 years ago with the objective of overwhelming the Cuban population so to promote a "regime change."

This can be seen explicitly in the "Lester Mallory Memorandum," which hoped that hunger and deprivation would cause social unrest.

“Every possible means should be undertaken promptly to weaken the economic life of Cuba. If such a policy is adopted, it should be the result of a positive decision which would call forth a line of action which, while as adroit and inconspicuous as possible, makes the greatest inroads in denying money and supplies to Cuba, to decrease monetary and real wages, to bring about hunger, desperation, and overthrown of government,” stated the Mallory Memorandum, signed on April 6, 1960.

On Monday, the Presidency of Cuba emphasized that the recent events highlight "the genocidal role of the U.S. blockade, its Embassy, and the Miami mafia in provocative plans and manipulation campaigns against Cuba."

"The disposition of the authorities of the Communist Party, the State, and the Government is to address the demands of our people, listen, dialogue, explain the numerous efforts being made to improve the situation," Diaz-Canel previously stated.

"Amid the conditions of a U.S. blockade that seeks to suffocate us, we will continue working peacefully to overcome this situation," he added.

Previously, on Sunday, citizens peacefully marched demanding electricity and food in Santiago de Cuba, located about 870 kilometers east of Havana.

all those russian voters were actually voting in the american election for Trump this past week
source: that would be bad if it was so

Lula da Silva supports Nicolas Maduro and guarante there will be free and fair elections in Venezuela.

When questioned about Maria Corina Machado (a neoliberal ghoul who supported the 2002 coup and attempted to annul the 2004 elections) having her politicals rights removed. Lula da Silva replied: "They should stop crying. They should nominate another candidate instead of crying"

The Brazilian president recalled that in 2018, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) prevented him from contesting the elections against Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party).

At the time, Lula criticized the decision as a "political impeachment based on lies". The current Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad (Workers' Party), was Lula's nominee for the election.

"Here, in this country (Brazil), I was prevented from running in the 2018 elections. Instead of crying, I nominated another candidate who contested the elections. In Venezuela, the elections are scheduled for July 28. Now, the question is whether the election will be honest or not. I hope the elections are as democratic as possible," said Lula.

Lula also said that Maduro had confirmed the presence of "observers from all over the world" to monitor the election.

BBC - Czech Republic struggles to contain surge of whooping cough [18/03/2024]

In the first week of January, say the Czech authorities, there were 28 registered cases of whooping cough. That figure now stands at 3,084 – a number not seen since 1963. Sufferers include the 80-year-old mayor of Prague, Bohuslav Svoboda, who is an MP as well as an eminent gynaecologist.

Health Minister Vlastimil Válek told Czech Television the current rise in cases is down to a combination of two things: a resurgence in respiratory diseases as society abandons strict Covid measures; and incomplete immunisation in children. The whooping cough vaccine is applied in five stages, the first three in the first 12 months of life. Almost all children receive these initial doses. However, only 90% end up receiving the final two, administered around the ages of six and ten. This, said Mr Válek, would explain why the greatest rise is among Czech teenagers.

Reuters - Poland's capital Warsaw earmarks $30 million for bomb shelters and other security [13/03/2024]

Poland's capital Warsaw will spend 117 million zlotys ($30 million) in the next two to three years on bomb shelters and other security measures, with war in neighbouring Ukraine in its third year, the city's mayor said on Wednesday. "On our own initiative we undertook an inventory of places for sheltering," Rafal Trzaskowski told a news conference after the publication of a report by Poland's Supreme Audit Office into the provision of bomb shelters in the country.

According to the fire service, less than 4% of the population can count on a place where they could shelter, the audit said. The report also found there was a lack of basic regulations for shelters, including the necessary equipment and technical features required of protective structures. Underground car parks and metro stations were among around 7 million square metres of space in Warsaw that could serve as shelters, the mayor said.

I've lost the article, but I was reading one where it said Biden's sanctions on some individual settlers has blocked bank accounts for some groups in Israel. IIRC it was groups that those individual settlers were involved with.

It's a very low bar but it's funny.

Does anyone remember back in June/July 2022 when Kamala Harris -- I believe in an interview with Dana Bash on CNN -- said something like 'What are we supposed to do?!' after facing slight pushback over Dems not doing shit to try to codify roe v wade into law? Can't find it.

Folks, the road soda fanbase is taking some real hits as the US Navy is PURGING very COOL DUDES:

Navy has fired at least 3 commanding officers for DUIs in 2024

Three of the five Navy commanding officers who have been fired so far this year, including a Navy SEAL and two submarine captains, were relieved after being arrested off-base for driving under the influence, Task & Purpose has confirmed.

I'm beginning to understand why the Navy has so many ship-to-ship collisions

edit: that one scene from Hunt for the Red October where they're running silent and can hear Russians singing in their own sub close by, except it's Russians this time being very quiet while they can hear Americans singing drinking songs right before they bounce the bow off another US sub

Brazil: Illegal Deforestation in the Amazon Fell by 63 Percent

Surveillance of the Amazon and Indigenous lands demarcation have been gradually resumed since Lula took office in 2023.

On Monday, the Institute of Man and the Environment in the Amazon (IMAZON) published a study showing that illegal deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon was reduced to 196 square kilometers in January and February.

This figure represents a drop of 63 percent of the deforested area with respect to the area destroyed in the same period last year.

In the first two months of 2023, at least 523 square kilometers were destroyed in nine Amazonian states, which concentrate around 70 percent of the planet's tropical rainforest.

According to IMAZON, which has been measuring deforestation since 2008 with the help of satellite images, these are the lowest rates of illegal logging recorded in the Brazilian Amazon since 2018.

However, this NGO pointed out that the 2024 figure is still higher than the rates of illegal logging in the first two months of 2016 and 2017 when 52 and 69 square kilometers of forests disappeared, respectively.

Therefore, researcher Larissa Amorim said that deforestation rates are still high and represent a "major challenge" for the administration of President Lula da Silva, who set the goal of achieving a "zero" illegal deforestation rate by 2030.

To achieve this goal, one of the government's priorities should be to expedite the process of demarcating Indigenous lands and creating new environmental reserves, she said, adding that these territories have the lowest deforestation rates.

IMAZON acknowledged Lula's efforts to restore environmental oversight mechanisms since taking office in 2023. Surveillance of the Amazon and Indigenous lands demarcation have been gradually resumed since then after these policies were abandoned by the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022).

So is there any news on who actually did it? It can't be ISIS because Linda Glocke already destroyed them.

I really hope that Ukraine is not involved in this

RUSSIA RUSSIA RUSSIA

Canadian government indefinitely suspends arms exports to Israel

The Canadian government has indefinitely suspended arms exports to Israel, according to the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“Canada has one of the most rigorous export permit regimes in the world,” a statement from the office reads. “There are no open permits for exports of lethal goods to Israel.”

“The export permits approved between October 7th and January 8th have been shared with the parliamentary committee studying this matter. Since January 8th, the government has not approved new arms export permits to Israel and this will continue until we can ensure full compliance with our export regime,” the statement continued.

Export permits that were approved before January 8 are still in effect, according to the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Remember: CNN previously reported that Canada had paused exports of non-lethal military equipment and technology to Israel in January given the risk of human rights violations.