Resultado Elecciones Madrid / Ayuso dobla el resultado y tendría mayoría con Vox https://t.co/SL9QHegLeh #larazon_es

— Emily Habsburg (@emily_habsburg) May 4, 2021

Chinese university plan causes ["]security concerns["] in Hungary
"Eastern Opening" plan tied to $2B loan from China's Exim Bank, "piles of garbage" and "spy hub"

EU-China investment deal put on ice over sanctions
sanctions and counter-sanctions ditch deal finally closed Dec 2020

Brexit: UK gives EU ambassador full diplomatic status

The UK government has agreed to give the European Union ambassador in London full diplomatic status.

The Foreign Office had resisted the idea, arguing the EU should not be treated like an independent nation.

But in a joint statement, the UK and EU announced ambassador Joao Vale de Almeida, would get "a status consistent with heads of missions of states".

He will now be immune from detention, prosecution or taxation during his time in London.

These are among the privileges given to diplomats in the states where they are stationed, as sanctioned by the Vienna Convention.

In more than 100 other countries, the EU's ambassadors have the same status as those representing sovereign nations.

Note that, pre-Brexit, the EU ambassador to the UK had "full diplomatic status." Since the UK didn't want at first to grant that status to recently nominated Vale de Almeida, Charles Michel declined to receive the UK ambassador to the EU in Brussels, who has yet to officially present his credentials; should happen soon, now.

Papa #Biden a parlé. Mini #Macron s'aligne. Victoire totale pour nous tous qui nous sommes mobilisés dans le monde entier pour les licences libres sur les #vaccins.

— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) May 6, 2021

Germany rejects US push to waive COVID vaccine patents
As if to trivialize intractable barriers to extruding brand generic licenses after patent expiry, "Two further factors could also be key, namely the rather narrow proposal put forth by the Biden administration -- which covers vaccines only -- and the fact that India and South Africa have also said they would be submitting a revised proposal of their original request."

Police.....this man is posting his stash on main https://t.co/WxjB55APr3

— Spagbolshevik (@LeninsLinguine) May 7, 2021

Anti-lockdown protesters have been seen wearing a modified Nazi-era symbol, drawing comparisons between Germany's coronavirus policy and the persecution of Jews during the war.https://t.co/YcO8TMO0ih

— DW News (@dwnews) May 8, 2021

Meanwhile in England, people are donning yellow stars with "no covid certificates" on them. Photos from @chloe_adlestone. pic.twitter.com/OCTtFdMFQy

— David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) April 24, 2021

Agent Orange: French court rejects claim against Bayer

The court in the Paris suburb of Evry said it did not have the jurisdiction to judge a case involving the wartime actions of the US government, the ruling said.

The case was brought forward by Tran To Nga, a ["]French["] woman of Vietnamese origin. The defendants included US agrochemical firm Monsanto, now owned by German giant Bayer.

Military veterans from the US, Australia and Korea previously won compensation for the after-effects of Agent Orange. But a verdict in favor of a ["]Vietnamese["] victim would have set a precedent.

From friend to foe: EU prepares sanctions on Lebanon for first time
post-R2P humanitarian aid

#Ryanair leave out of their statement that one of their customers was kidnapped in #Minsk by state authorities https://t.co/2hUE6ryFrO

— Mathieu von Rohr (@mathieuvonrohr) May 23, 2021

Open Door Policy to Criminal Actors

Favorite entry for Russians and Arabs into the European Union ... any takers after the fiasco of Brexit for NI and Scotsman

WHY MONTENEGRO?

• Rare one time limited opportunity for citizenship
  
• Instant Montenegro citizenship and passport within 3 months
  
• Montenegro is a future candidate for EU membership and joins Schengen area by 2025
  
• Cheapest property prices in Europe.
  
• Montenegro is so beautiful receives excess of 1 million visitor arrivals.
  
• Lifetime citizenship for family and generations.
  
• No physical residence requirements.

'Sapere aude'

GCHQ Breached Human Rights by Bulk Interception of Communications, European Court Rules

confusingly the judgement said: "The court considered that, owing to the multitude of threats states face in modern society, operating a bulk interception regime did not in and of itself violate the Convention."

ruling BIG BROTHER WATCH AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM

Switzerland ends talks with EU on co-operation agreement [_link] pic.twitter.com/W66xv7inJO

— FRANCE 24 (@FRANCE24) May 26, 2021

Swiss scupper draft EU treaty in break with biggest trade partner | Reuters |

'Sapere aude'

Germany officially recognizes colonial-era Namibia genocide

Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) said in a statement that as a "gesture of recognition of the immeasurable suffering" Germany caused, it would set up a fund amounting to €1.1 billion (US $ 1.34 billion).

Affected communities would play a key role in deciding what the funds were used for, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, while legal claims for compensation would not be deducted from it.

The aim of the negotiations that lasted more than half a decade was "to find a common path to genuine reconciliation in memory of the victims," Maas explained.

This includes naming the events of the German colonial period in what is now Namibia and in particular the atrocities in the period from 1904 to 1908 "without sparing or glossing over."

"We will now, also in an official capacity, call these events what they were from today's perspective -- a genocide," Maas said.

jurisdiction

The German Empire was the colonial power in what was then called German South West Africa from 1884 to 1915.

During that time, its military forces brutally put down several rebellions, killing tens of thousands of people.

German General Lothar von Trotha, who was sent to quell a Herero uprising in 1904, was particularly known for his extreme ruthlessness.

Historians generally accept that up to 65,000 of roughly 80,000 Herero people living in the area at the time, and at least 10,000 of the roughly 20,000 Nama people, were killed.

in perpetuity

reference
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
"The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish."
Status of membership

EU Green Week 2021 puts the spotlight on zero pollution
registration for free video conferences 31 May - 2 June

UK, France send patrol boats to Jersey amid fishing rights row

The United Kingdom and France have dispatched patrol boats to the British Channel island of Jersey amid an escalating row over post-Brexit fishing rights.

French trawler crews angry at restrictions placed on their access to UK fishing grounds after the latter's departure from the European Union sailed to Jersey in a flotilla in the early hours of Thursday to register their protest.

Because nothing screams "de-escalation" like sending gunboats to the scene.

Thursday's stand-off came after Jersey's government said the island had issued new fishing permits, which included new conditions for license-holders, in accordance with post-Brexit trade terms between the UK and EU.

Under the trade deal brokered between London and Brussels, Jersey must allow European vessels into its waters.

But the new fishing permits issued by the UK dependency have angered French trawler crews and the French government, who said the new terms had been imposed unilaterally and without discussion, and that they placed unfair restrictions on French fishing vessels.

Scotland performed one in the weeds, Thursday, May 5 with the count being held over two days due to coronavirus restrictions."

Despite Galloway's vociferous campaign to take a seat, I've neither an opinion about the validity of topline results

After 53 declared seat results, the four main parties have:
SNP: 915,789 votes
Conservatives: 428,643 votes
Labour: 409,627 votes
Lib Dems: 156,914 votes

nor interest in divining significance vested in "tactical votes" either to remain or leave the UK.

Scottish National Party started out with 63 seats from the 2016 election.  With 56 seats in the bag, including a flipped seat from Labour and two from the Tories, it looks like SNP will have 66 directly elected constituency seats, giving them at least one seat majority in Holyrood.  

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

Michael Gove confirms hugs will be allowed from next week between friends and family, much to the annoyance of Michael Gove's friends and family.

— Have I Got News For You (@haveigotnews) May 10, 2021

UK freeports blow as exporters face tariffs to 23 countries

Jacobin

BBC: What are you going to change over the next few days? What are you referring to?

STARMER: I will set out what we need to do to reconnect the Labour Party to the voters that have cast their verdict on us last night, particularly in places like Hartlepool. We have changed as a party. We have changed as a party. But we need to go further, and we need to set out that strong case to the country. We have not done that.

BBC: So you're going to set out a new policy agenda? Is that what you're saying?

STARMER: I am going to set out a strong case to the country, learn the lessons of the elections that have come in so far, and accept that we must reconnect and rebuild trust with working people, particularly in places like Hartlepool.

Looks like trade deals with the colonies of the glorious British Empire might not bring economic nirvana after all.

British farming could suffer "irreversible damage" as a result of the eventual agreement [with Australia]. British farming would struggle to compete if zero-tariff trade on lamb and beef went ahead.

Guardian

"Brazil is a country that can get on well with everyone," he said. "I even told the British ambassador that Boris Johnson can get ready, because if I go to the United Kingdom he'll have to have a bike race with me around London - and I'll show him what a competent cyclist I am," he joked, claiming he had also enjoyed "wonderful relationships" with the Labour leaders Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

This worries me. The number of EU citizens refused entry to UK soars. You can say: this had to happen given the end of freedom of movement. But still: it creates a new reality and atmosphere in which it will be increasingly difficult to stay connected. pic.twitter.com/fzy3iKV5Lz

— Andreas Michaelis (@GermanAmbUK) May 28, 2021

Reaching 'Herd Immunity' Is Unlikely in the U.S., ["]Experts["] Now Believe
with 4 months of "America First" Fauci vaccination DRIVE and the First 100 days of POTUS in Joe's pants, so to speak:

"People were getting confused and thinking you're never going to get the infections down until you reach this mystical level of herd immunity, whatever that number is," he said.

"That's why we stopped using herd immunity in the classic sense," he added. "I'm saying: Forget that for a second. You vaccinate enough people, the infections are going to go down."

< wipes tears >

Gruesome Murder Near German Border - 2019

Ex-Mississippi Deputy Accused in Bizarre Plot to Murder German Farm Owner | The Daily Beast |

Prosecutors believe Schwarz's gruesome murder on Nov. 26, 2019, was likely the consequence of an unpaid debt to a German investor--who allegedly hired a former Mississippi sheriff's deputy and a New Jersey man to snuff him out.

The stunning allegations are detailed in a series of extradition requests that were filed over the last two weeks. The alleged mastermind of the bizarre scheme, 51-year-old Lukas Fecker, is the owner of Innovation Brain, a company that buys businesses "on the verge of bankruptcy" and attempts to turn them around.

Normally the hired killers come from former Yugoslavia, motorclubs or immigrant gangs. This time they were "tourists" from America.

'Sapere aude'

How the U.S. locked up vaccine materials other nations urgently need

Love it when a story comes together.

archived NO. Certainly not taking patents., Securing the U.S. Drug Supply Chain, REUTERStweetin, From Outbreak to HISTORIOGRAPHY, etc

In Historic First, Governor Hogan Issues Full Posthumous Pardon For Victims of Racial Lynching

Governor Larry Hogan today issued a full posthumous pardon for 34 victims of racial lynching in Maryland between 1854 and 1933, on the basis that these extrajudicial killings violated fundamental rights to due process and equal protection of law. It is the first time in history that a governor has issued a blanket pardon for the victims of racial lynchings.

"The State of Maryland has long been on the forefront of civil rights, dating back to Justice Thurgood Marshall's legal battle to integrate schools and throughout our national reckoning on race," said Governor Hogan.  ...

Anthony Sabatini (R-FL)

If Socrates was out philosophizing in American society today, he would be cancelled real quick

Talkingpointsmemo

Manhattan federal prosecutors executed search warrants on three Ukrainians in their investigation into Rudy Giuliani, botched redactions in a court filing reveal.

Prosecutors with the Southern District of New York have searched the email accounts of two former Ukrainian officials, ex-prosecutor general Yuriy Lutsenko and tax service chief Roman Nasirov. They also seized the iPhone and iPad of Alexander Levin, a Ukrainian businessman who put two associates of Giuliani's in touch with a powerful Ukrainian oligarch.

A filing by Joseph Bondy, an attorney for Lev Parnas, accidentally revealed the information by blackening lines in the court document while leaving it possible for them to be copied and pasted to another file, CNN first reported.

This is sixteen years since the Pentagon make the same mistake. Will they ever learn?

New QAnon poll says 23% of Republicans believe that "the government, media, and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles who run a global child sex trafficking operation." via @PRRIpoll https://t.co/CZJkWhIQaI pic.twitter.com/J4j6O24bcI

— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) May 27, 2021

Colorado deputy sheriff ex-marines... vaccines are for sissies... I have an immune system ... 33 years old 🤣

The China virus got him

Scrap two Republican votes in next election!

'Sapere aude'

Latest "doctored image" frm Chinese artist Wuheqilin 乌合麒麟 recalls famous Eight Nation Alliance soldiers photo frm Boxer Rebellion in 1900 pic.twitter.com/5Ufu9RN6fc

— Carl Zha (@CarlZha) May 7, 2021

Massive protests in support of Palestine were held yesterday in Yemen, a country where millions are living under US-backed, Saudi-UAE siege and genocide.

Did you see even a word about it in the corporate media? https://t.co/vnXV5pzxQ9

— Sarah Abdallah (@sahouraxo) May 8, 2021

in spirit, if not flesh

India: How COVID disaster dents Narendra Modi's well-crafted image
"'Analysts tend to rely on a traditional model of voter behavior. In India, people actually decide upfront that they like Modi and then they find different justifications to provide that support,' [Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace] added."

Comparison of British, US and French colonial rule:

British colonial rule normally begins with "show me your leader".

Once the leader is identified, he's given a choice to serve the Crown or not. If he agrees, he's given an "allowance" & an official Rolls Royce, his son is sent to Eton, then Oxbridge etc.

— Onye Nkuzi (@cchukudebelu) May 12, 2021

Russia's oligarchs are now worth more than a third of the country's GDP - making it the world's most economically captured major country. pic.twitter.com/ZfP7e9zOJT

— Peedu Tuisk (@peedutuisk) May 14, 2021

The runner ups are also interesting...

Guardian

Protasevich was flying on an intra-EU flight from Athens to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, when the plane was diverted to Minsk. According to online flight data, the plane was over Belarusian airspace when it diverted course but was closer to Vilnius than Minsk.

[...]

Forcing the emergency landing of a European jetliner would be an extraordinary act even for Lukashenko's government, which has launched a broad crackdown on opposition leaders and independent media.

European officials reacted angrily on Sunday, as governments that have been strongly critical of Lukashenko called the grounding of an airliner a dangerous act without precedent.

Without precedent?

Macron asks Rwanda to forgive France over 1994 genocide role

French President Emmanuel Macron has asked Rwandans to forgive France for its role in the 1994 Rwandan genocide in which about 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus died.

Speaking at the genocide memorial in Rwanda's capital Kigali, he said France had not heeded warnings of impending carnage and had for too long "valued silence over examination of the truth".

But France had not been an accomplice in the killings, Mr Macron added.

Rwanda's leader praised his speech.

President Paul Kagame said, "His words were something more valuable than an apology. They were the truth." He called it "an act of tremendous courage".

INSANE if true. A very serious security breach exposing potentially sensitive US nuclear weapons storage, handling, and operational data at European bases, as personnel apparently posted answers to certification exam questions on the f*cking internet https:/t.co/VGkqoexBAl

— Vipin Narang (@NarangVipin) May 28, 2021

Why is this a MAJOR problem? The US inexplicably stores, as far as we still know, ~50 B-61 gravity nuclear bombs at Incirlik, Turkey. Information posted on Chegg included which storage vaults had bombs and which did not, security protocols, camera locations, duress passwords. 😬 https:/t.co/zXBH9LfHiN pic.twitter.com/QbCwTmTHGr

— Vipin Narang (@NarangVipin) May 28, 2021

Denmark and NSA Spying On EU Allies

BREAKING: Denmark's secret service has helped the United States spy on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European politicians.[_link]

— DW News (@dwnews) May 30, 2021

German prosecutors close case on NSA spying scandal | DW - Oct. 5, 2017 |

Germany's BND spy agency relies heavily on resources and tools supplied by its American aliles. The NSA reportedly provided German agents with spying software in exchange for data sharing. Also, the BND and it domestic intelligence couterpart BfV were accused of assisting the NSA in its global surveillance programs.

'Sapere aude'

Water crisis `couldn't be worse' on Oregon-California border, map NOAA, NIDIS

Irrigators, meanwhile, reacted with disbelief as the news of a water shut-off in the canals spread. A newsletter published by the Klamath Water Users Association, which represents many of the region's farmers, blared the headline, "Worst Day in the History of the Klamath Project." Farmers reported already seeing dust storms that obscured vision for 100 yards (91 meters), and they worried about their wells running dry.

About 30 protesters showed up Thursday at the head gates of the main dam to protest the shut-off and ask the irrigation district to defy federal orders and divert the water. The Herald and News reported that they were with a group called People's Rights, a far-right organization founded by anti-government activist Ammon Bundy.

archived Sep 2020 drought

Dutch court orders Shell to cut its emissions by 45 percent by 2030

Dutch environmentalists have won a landmark court case that could have significant ramifications for the global climate movement and oil companies. On Wednesday, The Hague District Court ordered Royal Dutch Shell to reduce its carbon emissions by 45 percent by the end of the decade. After hearing both sides, a panel of judges determined the energy giant's climate plan was too vague. "[It] is not concrete, has many caveats and is based on monitoring social developments rather than the company's own responsibility for achieving a CO2 reduction," the court said.

Well, that's it. California's winter snowpack is basically gone. Two months early.#drought#climatechange pic.twitter.com/GOru2PH8tP

— Peter Gleick 🇺🇸 (@PeterGleick) May 27, 2021

In the French language, steps forward and back for women

Warning that the well-being of France and its future are at stake, the government banned the use in schools of a method increasingly used by some French speakers to make the language more inclusive by feminizing some words.

Specifically, the education minister's decree targets what is arguably the most contested and politicized letter in the French language -- "e." Simply put, "e" is the language's feminine letter, used in feminine nouns and their adjectives and, sometimes, when conjugating verbs.

But proponents of women's rights are also increasingly adding "e" to words that normally wouldn't have included that letter, in a conscious -- and divisive -- effort to make women more visible.

< wipes tears >

Guardian

The Wall Street Journal reported that in 2019 Melinda, 56, hired a team of lawyers from several high profile law firms to discuss a possible divorce. The Journal said several of its sources had said Melinda was concerned about her husband's business dealings with Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges related to sex trafficking.

"Business dealings". I supposed Bill just helped Epstein install Windows on his PC.

Melinda is said to have expressed unease at Bill's relationship with Epstein since at least 2013. Her meeting with divorce lawyers in October 2019 is said to have taken place at roughly the same time as a New York Times article detailed Bill's meetings with Epstein, which included an overnight stay at Epstein's New York mansion.

"Overnight"? It  does sometimes take some time to install Windows.

I assume that she is getting a good settlement, to avoid the need to discuss in court his difficulties in installing Windows on a PC.

This is the kind of thing that happens when people elect an ignorant hick bigot to lead the country.

Coronavirus variants are spreading in India -- what scientists know so far

Evidence is growing that one variant first detected in India might be more transmissible and slightly better at evading immunity than existing variants. Animal models also hint that it might be able to cause more severe disease. Researchers want to know if this variant and others might be driving the second wave and what kind of danger they pose globally.

In just a few weeks, the B.1.617 variant has become the dominant strain across India and has spread to about 40 nations, including the United Kingdom, Fiji and Singapore.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

Yesterday at the ACS Data Users Conference, the Census Bureau described its plans to replace the American Community Survey (ACS) microdata with "fully synthetic" data over the next three years. Details of the methodology have not been disclosed, but the idea is to develop models describing the interrelationships of all the variables in the ACS, and then construct a simulated population consistent with those models. ...

Chemical Analysis Sheds New Light on Ancient Greek Battles of Himera
of the "sea peoples"

G7 has agreed, the SARS-CoV-19 pandemic is fini.

On this day in 1954, Viet Minh forces led by Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap defeated the French military at the battle of Dien Bien Phu. This battle was the decisive moment that permanently expelled the French Colonial Empire from the region. 🇻🇳 pic.twitter.com/29JcMfo7KG

— Comrade hút tẩu 🏳️‍🌈🕎🇵🇸🇻🇳 (@AmericanML) May 7, 2021

article

A French family returns to their destroyed village, 1944. pic.twitter.com/9H4xGUntpX

— The French History Podcast (@FrenchHist) May 9, 2021

Amazing new images of French warship sunk in West Cork in 1796 show cannons still on board https://t.co/f1nqV8XcXI

— Irish Archaeology (@irarchaeology) May 15, 2021

31 May 1921:

100 years ago, a white mob burned Tulsa, Oklahoma's "Black Wall Street" to the ground. An estimated 300 people were murdered.

Today, the city still searches for answers. pic.twitter.com/WIlAF36pIS

— Vox (@voxdotcom) May 31, 2021

Palestine never forgets: On this day 11 years ago, Israel slaughtered ten Turkish humanitarians on board the Gaza aid vessel Mavi Marmara on 31 May 2010:
Rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/cuWtfIBXoN

— Refaat🇵🇸 (@itranslate123) May 31, 2021

'Sapere aude'

Belgian farmer accidentally moves French border

A local history enthusiast was walking in the forest when he noticed the stone marking the boundary between the two countries had moved 2.29m (7.5ft).

The Belgian farmer, apparently annoyed by the stone in his tractor's path, had moved it inside French territory.

Instead of causing international uproar, the incident has been met with smiles on both sides of the border.

"I was happy, my town was bigger," the Belgian mayor added with a laugh. "But the mayor of Bousignies-sur-Roc didn't agree."

The farmer will now be asked to move the stone back to its original position.

"We should be able to avoid a new border war," the amused mayor of the neighbouring French village, Aurélie Welonek, told La Voix du Nord.

Local Belgian authorities plan to contact the farmer to ask him to return the stone to its original location.

Can't wait for World Lobster Day. pic.twitter.com/8Yo1ETP0XF

— Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) May 21, 2021