World News Thread

[Sunsilver]

Hoo boy, just WAIT until the Queen passes away!

[Frelga]

Hoo boy, just WAIT until the Queen passes away!

Doesn't seem possible, does it?

[Sunsilver]

I will definitely mourn on that day.

It may be awhile yet. Her mother made it to 102!

I think she knew her husband was going to pass soon, as she recently got two puppies to keep her company. Hopefully, they will keep help keep her young and on her toes.

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2021/0 ... wes%2DLyon.

She still rides daily, though her mount is now a large pony with a very stable temperament.

[Jude]

So Bernie Madoff died today. Good riddance.

[N.E. Brigand]

The Czech government has expelled 18 Russian diplomats after an investigation concluded that Russia was behind explosions at Czech ammunition factories in 2014 that killed two Czech citizens. The GRU team who carried out these explosions were the same group behind the 2018 poisoning in the U.K. of Sergei Skripal and his daughter (and two random people who accidentally came in contact with the poison, one of whom died).

[Beorhtnoth]

And yet there is no substantial evidence of Russian responsibility for the Skripal "poisonings" or the Czech bombings.

How much reliance can be made on the outpourings of the US and UK state funded Bellingcat, the supposed "independent" source that has already been found guilty of manufacturing data (eg the downing of the Malaysian airline over Ukraine)?

The Skripal "poisonings" are fascinating. Apparently, Russian GRU operatives bungled this assassination attempt, but three months later cast offs were found in a bin, leading to the death of Dawn Sturgess.

UK waste disposal has reached an all time low when a bottle of novichok, disguised as perfume, can rest unmolested for three months in a public waste basket...

Anybody else smell that ordure that is state sponsored disinformation?

[N.E. Brigand]

And yet there is no substantial evidence of Russian responsibility for the Skripal "poisonings" or the Czech bombings.

How much reliance can be made on the outpourings of the US and UK state funded Bellingcat, the supposed "independent" source that has already been found guilty of manufacturing data (eg the downing of the Malaysian airline over Ukraine)?

The Skripal "poisonings" are fascinating. Apparently, Russian GRU operatives bungled this assassination attempt, but three months later cast offs were found in a bin, leading to the death of Dawn Sturgess.

UK waste disposal has reached an all time low when a bottle of novichok, disguised as perfume, can rest unmolested for three months in a public waste basket...

Anybody else smell that ordure that is state sponsored disinformation?

Russia is in fact responsible for the downing of the Malaysian airline over Ukraine.

[Beorhtnoth]

I really am not so sure that is the case. Yes, Russia has been blamed by those with vested interests in blaming Russia, but the investigation by Bellingcat was nonsense, making claims unsupported by evidence, yet that investigation became central to the inquest. Eyewitness accounts were ignored, and remains simply not collected.

It was useful to have Russians held responsible, as it allows Russia's enemies to claim moral superiority.

By the way, the claim is Russian speaking separatists fired the missiles claimed to have downed the airline, but that unsupported charge itself has transformed into Russia itself being culpable. Such is how propaganda works.

[RoseMorninStar]

I've been reading that Australia, in addition to fires and floods, viral plague (COVID), they also are inundated with mice, which in turn is creating a plague of snakes. Good grief, biblical proportions and whatnot. What say our friends in Australia? How are you holding up? Impy? Túrin?

[Beorhtnoth]

I believe it was biblical imperative that had God's Own Country (England) deport its criminals to Satan's kingdom...

[Frelga]

I think they are too busy fighting off the plague of kangaroos.

[Impenitent]

I've been reading that Australia, in addition to fires and floods, viral plague (COVID), they also are inundated with mice, which in turn is creating a plague of snakes. Good grief, biblical proportions and whatnot. What say our friends in Australia? How are you holding up? Impy? Túrin?

I don't know what to tell you, RoseMorninStar.

We are, indeed. Still in psychological recovery from the fires of 2 summers ago; and in physical recovery in some of the areas that suffered floods.

We currently have zero community transmission of Covid-19 anywhere in the country; there are occasional breakouts from hotel quarantine - Australians returning from overseas are the vectors - but these breakouts have so far been quickly smothered via short bursts of community lockdown to alliw thorough contact tracing.

I honestly haven't been conscious of the mouse and snake plagues; the 'roo plagues in looking forward to though. Wouldn't that be something to see!

Sent from my SM-G965U1 using Tapatalk

[elengil]

The Belgium-France border is in upheaval!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/ ... ium-bigger

The boundary between France and Belgium is believed to have been inadvertently redrawn by a farmer who found the 200-year-old border stone marking the divide in an inconvenient location for his tractor.

Woops!

While amused by the enlargement of his town, David Lavaux, the mayor of Erquelinnes, gently pointed out that the farmer was legally obliged to move the border stone back – and that it would be best not “to create a diplomatic incident”.

Yes, probably for the best.

[RoseMorninStar]

Ah, should all such conflicts be handled so gently and with humor...

[Túrin Turambar]

In fairness, some European borders are in really inconvenient places. Perhaps most famously, the Dutch-Belgian border:

Baarle Nassau border.PNG (757.41 KiB) Viewed 3035 times

[RoseMorninStar]

Túrin

Impenitent, thanks for your reply. I didn't see it earlier. At least you can be thankful that your country has been spared the worst of COVID. Who knows what will happen going forward with so many people refusing vaccines.

[Frelga]

If you get a chance, watch The Law Is the Law. It's a 1958 comedy with Totò and Fernandel, and the plot revolves around Fernandel's character discovering that he was born on the Italian rather than French side of a hotel that straddles the border. It's hysterical.

[elengil]

In fairness, some European borders are in really inconvenient places. Perhaps most famously, the Dutch-Belgian border:

Baarle Nassau border.PNG

And they're even nice enough to label which side is which!

If you get a chance, watch The Law Is the Law. It's a 1958 comedy with Totò and Fernandel, and the plot revolves around Fernandel's character discovering that he was born on the Italian rather than French side of a hotel that straddles the border. It's hysterical.

I have no idea if I'll be able to find it but I'll go looking

[Frelga]

Wait what?

LIVE: French fishermen blockade Jersey's capital as Royal Navy gunboats arrive

Follow all the latest updates on our politics liveblog here

The thread is a wild ride.

[Beorhtnoth]

A consequence of the UK leaving the EU.

French fishermen are discovering the EU waters they have been fishing are not EU waters anymore. Their UK. The French fishermen, of course, protest at the new rules, and the UK polices its territory. Not quite the drama as presented by the Daily Telegraph, but early days!