World News Thread

[N.E. Brigand]

AP: "Poland’s PM says authorities in the previous government widely and illegally used Pegasus spyware."

Prime Minister Donald Tusk "made the announcement during a news briefing alongside President Andrzej Duda, a political opponent aligned with the previous ruling party. The use of Pegasus was alleged to have occurred under the government led by the right-wing Law and Justice party. Pegasus gives operators complete access to a mobile device, allowing them to extract passwords, photos, messages, contacts and browsing histories, and to activate the microphone and camera for real-time eavesdropping."

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Alexei Navalny, the jailed Russian opposition leader, has reportedly died. He was 47 years old. Anything else that I could say would be irresponsible speculation, but we all know what the truth is.

[Frelga]

Christo Grozev: "Russian telegram channel VChK-Ogpu notes that the press release announcing @navalny's death was posted literally 2 minutes after the official time of his death."

And while it may be a mere coincidence that the death occurred days after Tucker Calrson did his best to polish putin's image, it probably wasn't.

[RoseMorninStar]

May he rest in peace as he got little of it in life. What a shame. If I believed in ghosts, I wish he could haunt his tormentors.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

And while it may be a mere coincidence that the death occurred days after Tucker Calrson did his best to polish putin's image, it probably wasn't.

Here is Mr. Carlson's response to the news. I think it speaks for itself.

[RoseMorninStar]

Is Carlson volunteering?

[N.E. Brigand]

Navalny had a court appearance (via video) just yesterday:

[Frelga]

It needs to be said that while Navalny's courage in speaking against Putin is undisputed, that the West labeled him the leader of Russian for freedom and democracy speaks more to the lack of leaders for freedom and democracy in Russia than to Navalny's actual views.

The list of people murdered by Putin's regime is long, and includes journalists, politicians, and even close allies like Prigozhin.

Also worth remembering that the presidential "elections" in Russia are only a month away. Navalny, even imprisoned, would have been inconvenient.

[Frelga]

Hungary ratified Sweden's NATO membership. Baltic Sea is officially a NATO lake.

[Jude]

Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney has passed away. I'd be curious to know if anyone besides Sunny and me have heard of him.

I was out of the country for most of his tenure, so most of what I know about him comes from letters from my dad.

[RoseMorninStar]

The name is familiar but in a vague way. I've never been much into politics, but (looking him up) that he was roughly contemporary with Reagan here in the US sounds about right in my memory.

[N.E. Brigand]

Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney has passed away. I'd be curious to know if anyone besides Sunny and me have heard of him.

I was out of the country for most of his tenure, so most of what I know about him comes from letters from my dad.

I know someone who edited, if I recall correctly, his 2007 book Memoirs.

(I also know Kim Campbell's husband.)

[N.E. Brigand]

It needs to be said that while Navalny's courage in speaking against Putin is undisputed, that the West labeled him the leader of Russian for freedom and democracy speaks more to the lack of leaders for freedom and democracy in Russia than to Navalny's actual views.

The list of people murdered by Putin's regime is long, and includes journalists, politicians, and even close allies like Prigozhin.

Also worth remembering that the presidential "elections" in Russia are only a month away. Navalny, even imprisoned, would have been inconvenient.

Wow. Navalny may still be inconvenient.

[RoseMorninStar]

Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney has passed away. I'd be curious to know if anyone besides Sunny and me have heard of him.

I was out of the country for most of his tenure, so most of what I know about him comes from letters from my dad.

I know someone who edited, if I recall correctly, his 2007 book Memoirs.

(I also know Kim Campbell's husband.)

That's pretty impressive.

Really awful about Navalny. I wonder if people are being arrested for coming out for him &/or if he'll become a martyr figure.

[Frelga]

There are 10 million people in Moscow alone.

This is Moscow in 1991, when the city turned out against the tanks to stop the August Coup. The tanks stopped.

57b7a783a30b0.image.jpg (217.03 KiB) Viewed 533 times

But back then, they had Eltzin to rally around. Now, there is no candidate for the throne left alive, no leader and no momentum.

I don't think there is any hope for Russia.

[Sunsilver]

Former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney has passed away. I'd be curious to know if anyone besides Sunny and me have heard of him.

I was out of the country for most of his tenure, so most of what I know about him comes from letters from my dad.

Jude, I was never a fan. Shortly after his second election, a local motel in Richmond Hill, which often put political/social commentary on its sign, posted this: "Come on, Brian, we voted for the democratic system, not the buddy system."

Our lawyer, and Roger's long-time friend, was elected as an MP for a Toronto riding, and was chosen as a cabinet minister. He was definitely not a fan, either, and was extremely glad when the Conservatives were not re-elected, and he was able to go back to practicing law. He was a very honest man, and hated the corruption in the Mulroney government.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I certainly know the name, but I can't pretend to recall much about him.

[Jude]

(I also know Kim Campbell's husband.)

Any chance you could persuade her to come out of retirement? Our next government will almost certainly be a Conservative one, and it would be nice to have a prime minister that doesn't suck.

[N.E. Brigand]

AP: "India announces steps to implement a citizenship law that excludes Muslims."

To be clear, the law doesn't apply to the 200 million Muslims who are already Indian citizens (one-seventh of the nation's population). But it's still discriminatory:

The Citizenship Amendment Act provides a fast track to naturalization for Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to Hindu-majority India from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before Dec. 31, 2014. The law excludes Muslims, who are a majority in all three nations.

The law was approved by Indian Parliament in 2019, but Modi’s government had held off with its implementation after deadly protests broke out in capital New Delhi and elsewhere. Scores were killed during days of clashes.

The nationwide protests in 2019 drew people of all faiths who said the law undermines India’s foundation as a secular nation. Muslims were particularly worried that the government could use the law, combined with a proposed national register of citizens, to marginalize them.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

This is worth noting.