World News Thread

[N.E. Brigand]

I admit I didn't realize that Guyana is larger than Great Britain:



Restore England's prehistoric forests!

[N.E. Brigand]

BBC: "Turkish local elections: Opposition stuns Erdogan with historic victory."

These are local elections, notably in Istanbul and Ankara.

[N.E. Brigand]

Learned a new word today: zud. Sometimes spelled dzud.

It's a Mongolian word referring to a "disaster in steppe, semi-desert and desert regions ... in which large numbers of livestock die, primarily due to starvation, being unable to graze due to particular severe climatic conditions. Various kinds of zud are recognized, depending on the particular type of climatic conditions. In winter it may be caused by an impenetrable ice crust, in summer it may happen due to drought. One-third of Mongolia's population depends entirely on pastoral farming for its livelihood, and harsh zuds can cause economic crises and food security issues in the country." The concept is also known in other central Asian nations. "The literal translation of the Kazakh word 'жұт' is 'devourer.'"

The word came to my attention today because the "zud of winter 2023–2024 has been the worst in 50 years, with 2 million animals dead by late February, which had increased to 5 million by late March." Because Mongolia is heavily dependent on herding, the country will need economic aid.

[RoseMorninStar]

From what I've read, the people of Mongolia eat very little in the way of vegetation, not even grain. So a large loss of animals would be devastating.

[N.E. Brigand]

I haven't been closely following the news from Tblisi, where there have been large protests almost every night against the Georgian parliament's "foreign agents" law that apparently is a pro-Russian measure that will "set back the country's ambitions to join" the European Union. The nation's president, Salome Zurabishvili, has said she will veto the bill, but the party who controls the legislature has enough votes to override that move.

- + - + - + - + - + - + -
Meanwhile in Slovakia, the nation's prime minister, Robert Fico, is in the hospital in critical condition after being shot multiple times in an attempted assassination today in Handlova, a town about 90 miles from Bratislava. Fico, a pro-Russian populist like Donald Trump, has been facing large protests of his own because of his opposition to Ukraine, his "plans to amend the penal code to eliminate a special anti-graft prosecutor and to take control of public media," his "tough stance against migration and non-governmental organizations ... [and] LGBTQ+ rights." Fico was prime minister before but "stepped down amid controversy after Slovakian investigative journalist Ján Kuciak was murdered along with his fiancée. Kuciak had been reporting on tax-related crimes implicating high-level Slovak politicians."

[N.E. Brigand]

And not just in Tblisi...

I haven't been closely following the news from Tblisi, where there have been large protests almost every night

Not sure whether or not it would be cool to live in a "Black Death city," but that's a typo: Revishvili meant to type "Black Sea city." Batumi, which is the nation's second largest city (at 183,000, it's about the size as Ft. Lauderdale, Florida), is a gambling destination only a few miles from Turkey.

[N.E. Brigand]

Iran's president, Ebrahim Raisi, is presumed dead, along with the nation's foreign minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, and seven others in a helicopter crash earlier today. It took many hours for rescuers to find the crash site, but per CNN, Iran's state media is now showing drone footage that suggests there were no survivors.

[N.E. Brigand]

I've seen several videos purporting to show some Iranians cheering the news of their president's death. It's very difficult to verify such videos, and even if you could, wouldn't do so put those Iranians at risk of execution?

[Frelga]

Meanwhile, Russia is considering going back to forced labor camps.

Per the UK intelligence briefing.

INTELLIGENCE UPDATE

Russia is currently experiencing a labour shortage that is becoming a significant problem in some sectors. According to estimates by the independent Russian media outlet Izvestia Russia had a 4.8 million shortage of workers in 2023. As an example, the Russian transport and logistics industry was unable to fill 25% of its truck driver vacancies during 2023.

The labour shortage has at least in part been caused by Russia's war in Ukraine, which has led to mobilisation of parts of the working population and emigration by some skilled professionals seeking to avoid the call-up. More recently, the labour shortage has been exacerbated by restrictions on migrant employment implemented following the 22 March 2024 ISIS-K terrorist incident in Moscow.

As a result of the labour shortages, a group of Russian parliamentarians are looking at possible amendments to the Russian labour code. If enacted, it would mean that excess labour force could be moved under state supervision to a place of work which lacks sufficient labour. The moves will be temporary and workers will only be transferred with their consent. However, although not coercive, it is a potential move towards the mobilisation of labour.

Highlight mine.

The "not coercive part" is BS. Even in the less desperate times, when giant projects like Baikal–Amur Mainline and Komsomolsk-on-Amur were being advertised as this romantic adventure for young people, lots of labor force was coerced into going there. Now? Good luck.

[Frelga]

While properly belonging here, this pertains to the discussion in the Challenges Ahead thread.

The Czech illegals: Husband and wife outed as GRU spies aiding bombings and poisonings across Europe

It's breathtaking how brazen Russian sabotage and murder activities are in Europe. And how rarely reported.

[Túrin Turambar]

UK PM Rishi Sunak has called an election for 4 July. Six months earlier than the legal limit for the current term of Parliament, but he probably figured things weren't getting any better.

[N.E. Brigand]

Mexico is holding elections today. More than 30 political candidates in that country were murdered this year.

- - - - - - - - - - -
South Africa held elections a few days ago; results were announced yesterday. For the first time ever, the African National Congress party did not win a majority of votes, so there will be a coalition government, whose composition is pending talks currently underway.

[RoseMorninStar]

Mexico is holding elections today. More than 30 political candidates in that country were murdered this year.*

*Italics mine

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Both major party candidates are women, so Mexico will have its first female president.

[Frelga]

I'm not sure where this belongs, but Rupert Murdoch, The Fox and News Corp chairman married Elena Zhukova, whose daughter used to be married to the Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. Fox News is literally in bed with the Putin's circle.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Claudia Sheinbaum has become not only Mexico's first female president, but also it's first Jewish president. For what it is worth, Mexico achieved both of those milestones before the U.S.

[Túrin Turambar]

Big month for elections, including in some of the world's largest democracies - Mexico (as NEB mentioned), South Africa (ditto), and in a couple of days the result will be declared of the biggest election in the world, for India's Parliament.

In the UK, the Tories are having a miserable time. First Rishi Sunak got soaked announcing the election in the rain, making himself into a meme, then he announced he would introduce National Service if re-elected, alienating the handful of young people still voting Conservative, and now he's campaigning on Britain turning a corner, as if his party hasn't been in power since 2010. And Conservative votes are being eaten away by Reform on the political right.

On current opinion polls, Labour is expected to win a supermajority, perhaps even three-quarters of the seats in the House of Commons.

[Frelga]

Sunak was also photographed in from of the sign of, I assume, something called Morton where his head covered the T. And in front of another sign where two letters O formed Mickie Mouse ears.

Meanwhile in Mexico.

No, she thanked her husband, whose name is Jesús, for accompanying her.

20240603_163557.jpg (354.81 KiB) Viewed 250 times

[River]

OMG, that take in that tweet is so out of touch it's hilarious.

[N.E. Brigand]

Meanwhile in Mexico. ... No, she thanked her husband, whose name is Jesús, for accompanying her.

- - - - - - - - - - -
U.S. President Biden congratulated Mexican President-elect Sheinbaum today.

Four years ago, it took 38 days for Andrés Manuel López Obrador ("AMLO"), the current President of Mexico (and Sheinbaum's mentor), to congratulate U.S. President-elect Biden. (Curiously, I remember in 2019 that just two Democratic candidates for U.S. President were able to name Mexico's President: Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg.)