World News Random, Random

[ti-amie]

He truly thinks he is president of the world. Senile and deranged; a dangerous combination.

[ti-amie]

The latest distraction

Big_Chungys_
•
1h ago

it's the same as when he said White South Africans are facing a genocide. He is simply, lying. Nigeria has the 2nd biggest Christian population in africa and one of the leading powers in the continent, we will have multiple news outlets/news sources like Al Jazeera and CNN speak on this similar to what we see from Sudan and Palestine right now.

They are simply trying to get eyes off the atrocities taking place in Sudan because it is uet another genocide tied to the UAE, Isreal, and he US.

[ti-amie]

US accused of threatening EU diplomats during bid to kill green shipping rules

Negotiators at shipping talks in London were told both they and their countries could be punished unless they voted with the U.S.


November 3, 2025 5:02 am CET
By Karl Mathiesen, Gabriel Gavin, Louise Guillot, Nahal Toosi and Ben Lefebvre

European negotiators were personally targeted by their American counterparts during a brutal negotiation over green shipping rules, European Commission officials told POLITICO — a highly unusual gambit that left diplomats shaken after the meeting.

The threats were made last month, as the U.S. maneuvered to block a new effort to tax pollution at a meeting of the International Maritime Organization in London.

Eight envoys, officials and civil society observers from Europe, granted anonymity to describe the fractious closed-door discussions and protect their relationships with those involved, confirmed national delegates had reported they had been threatened with personal consequences if they went against Washington.

“Our negotiators had never seen this before in any international talks,” said one European official, who had spoken to negotiators. “People being summoned to the U.S. Embassy in London — intimidation, threats of cessation of business, threats of family members losing visas.”

Another European Commission official added that diplomats returned home rattled after the meetings: “We had feedback from a number of people involved in the negotiations about the pressure they faced.”

Since Donald Trump’s return to office, the administration has sought to undermine global climate policy and promote U.S. fossil fuel interests. The president has called efforts to combat global warming a “con job.” He was particularly enraged about the maritime emissions effort, saying it would hit American shippers with unwarranted taxes.

The International Maritime Organization is a U.N. agency that regulates the world’s shipping industry; measures taken there are enforced by its 176 member states — almost every nation on Earth with a coastline. The EU is not a member, but the European Commission and the vast majority of EU countries had been an early supporter of the carbon tax measure.

The U.S. strategy was laid out publicly ahead of the meeting, with a press release signed by the U.S. secretaries of state, transportation and energy. On top of threats of tariffs, port fees and visa restrictions on crews, the U.S. said it would also look at “sanctions on officials sponsoring activist-driven climate policies.”

Only two EU members broke from the bloc: major maritime countries Cyprus and Greece, with the latter claiming its choice had nothing to do with U.S. pressure.

“We had made up our minds way before the U.S. became involved in this and we had actually voiced our concerns,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whose country has one of the world’s largest maritime industries, told POLITICO in an interview after Athens switched its vote and backed a postponement. “I want to be very clear … I did not speak to President Trump about this.”
The new normal

The deployment of personal threats in an international negotiation represents another departure by the Trump administration from diplomatic norms and signals further tension in relations between the U.S. and EU.

The threats were not limited to European delegations, according to officials and attendees briefed on the events in London.

“I’m directly aware of threats being made to EU countries, island states,” said one observer from a civil society group, who was briefed on the matter by a delegation.

Delegates exposed to the intimidation campaign were unwilling to speak on the record for fear the U.S. would make good on its ultimatums. The Financial Times first reported the personal threats to delegates.

In a close vote, the summit chose to delay the emissions tax for a year — a feat viewed by many as a near-death blow to the measure and a major victory for Trump. Dozens of countries from Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia agreed to the delay.



Other officials who spoke to the delegates said they were astonished at how strongly the Americans were prepared to pressure delegations.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said he and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins had personally called more than 20 countries to pressure them. A senior Western diplomat confirmed the U.S. threatened Caribbean countries with tariffs if they did not agree to postpone the shipping emissions decision.

During the week-long IMO meeting, the “process was ongoing,” said the observer. In at least one case U.S delegates approached another delegation on the floor of the plenary and issued a similar set of ultimatums. “There was quite a bit of upset among the delegates.”

At a coffee break during the meeting, Vanuatu Climate Minister Ralph Regenvanu told POLITICO that other island nations had been subjected to “relentless pressure” from the U.S.. “There’s (expletive) going on,” he said.

Although tough tactics are nothing new in international talks, the bare-knuckle approach of the U.S. in London was seen as extraordinary.

“U.S. pressure created an atmosphere of fear, which in turn created chaos that ultimately led to the adoption to be delayed,” said Christiaan De Beukelaer, a senior lecturer in climate and maritime transport policies at the University of Melbourne, who was present at the talks in an observer capacity.

"Once you go around threatening countries, you undermine the design and functioning of multilateralism as it emerged since the Second World War,” he added.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson declined to comment on what they called “private diplomatic conversations.” But in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the effort against the carbon price.

“Our coalition-building efforts paid off, proving that real diplomacy based on national interest — ours and theirs — can thwart unaccountable bureaucratic schemes. Should this initiative or any other similar one emerge from the U.N. bureaucracy again, our coalition against it will be ready—and larger,” said Rubio.

Karl Mathiesen reported from London. Gabriel Gavin and Louise Guillot reported from Brussels. Nahal Toosi and Ben Lefebvre contributed reporting from Washington. Martina Sapio contributed reporting from Brussels.


https://www.politico.eu/article/us-accu ... imidation/

[ponchi101]

Shocked. Shocked!!!

[ponchi101]

It seems Iran has been under a drought for several years now. The situation has become so dire that there is talk that Tehran may have to be evacuated. Tehran is 10 million people.

‘We may have to evacuate Tehran’: The catastrophe threatening Iran

[ti-amie]

It seems Iran has been under a drought for several years now. The situation has become so dire that there is talk that Tehran may have to be evacuated. Tehran is 10 million people.

‘We may have to evacuate Tehran’: The catastrophe threatening Iran

[ti-amie]

[ti-amie]

Mark Chadbourn
‪@chadbourn.bsky.social‬
This is one of the big accounts boosting Tommy Robinson, Farage and Reform and ‘English Patriots’.

It’s Russian.



Mark Chadbourn‬
‪@chadbourn.bsky.social‬
· 12h
Collingwood’s podcast is more specific. Connected via Russian Federation Android App.

[ti-amie]

Brazil’s ex-president Bolsonaro arrested over alleged plot to avoid 27-year prison term
A Supreme Court Justice ordered the preemptive arrest after saying the far-right leader’s ankle monitor was violated Saturday while under house arrest.

By Associated Press11/22/2025 12:03 PM ESTUpdated: 11/22/2025 06:22 PM EST

BRASILIA, Brazil — Brazil’s federal police on Saturday arrested former president Jair Bolsonaro over suspicion he was plotting to escape and avoid starting a 27-year prison sentence for leading a coup attempt. The decision laid bare some of the country’s divisions, with many uncorking Champagne outside the far-right leader’s prison to celebrate as his supporters prepared a religious act in his favor.

In a dramatic and unexpected twist in the final stage of a long and divisive criminal trial, federal agents entered Bolsonaro’s house early Saturday under the order of a Supreme Court Justice to take the former president to the headquarters of the country’s federal police in the capital, Brasilia.

Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the case on Bolsonaro’s attempt to keep the presidency after his defeat to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2022, ordered the preemptive arrest after saying the far-right leader’s ankle monitor was violated Saturday. His lawyers claimed in a statement that did not take place.

A report by custody agents released later in the day — and reviewed by The Associated Press — said Bolsonaro admitted using a soldering iron to try to open the device. In a court video also seen by the AP, Bolsonaro is heard admitting such attempt. The footage shows the ankle monitor’s cap heavily damaged.

Bolsonaro, 70, who had been under house arrest, was ordered to wear the device after being deemed a flight risk. His aide Andriely Cirino confirmed that the arrest took place around 6 a.m. on Saturday.

In the following hours, dozens of cars honked outside the federal police’s headquarters as some Bolsonaro supporters protested. Police have since tried keep the small, but fierce, opposing sides separated.

A protest organized by Bolsonaro’s son alerted the justice

De Moraes said the arrest was a preventive measure to avoid a potential escape during a protest organized by his son later Saturday.

“Are you going to fight for your country or are you going to watch it all from your cellphone in your home’s sofa?,” Flávio Bolsonaro said in a video inviting people to go outside his fathers’ house at 7 p.m. “I invite you to fight with us.”

De Moraes said the attempt to break the ankle monitor was a confirmation Bolsonaro would try to escape during “the confusion that would be caused by a demonstration organized by his son.”

The judge said there was a chance of Bolsonaro fleeing to the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia. The Supreme Court justice also mentioned other defendants in the coup case and political allies of the former president leaving Brazil to avoid jail.

“He is located about 13 kilometers (8 miles) away from where the United States of America embassy lies, in a distance that can be covered in a 15-minute drive,” said de Moraes, who has been sanctioned by the Trump administration.

In August, Brazil’s federal police found messages that linked Bolsonaro to a political asylum request to Argentina, where an ally of his, Javier Milei, is president.

Trump was asked outside the White House on Saturday about Bolsonaro’s arrest, but said that was the first he was hearing of it. “Is that what happened? That’s too bad,” he said. Pressed for further comment, he said: “I just think it’s too bad.”

Trump also said he’d spoken with Lula on Friday night and that the two might be meeting “in the very near future.”

Bolsonaro’s lawyers said in a statement that the former president’s arrest “causes deep perplexity because, as (de Moraes’) chronology of facts shows, it is based in a vigil for prayer,” not a protest.

The preemptive arrest of Bolsonaro, who is an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump, will be discussed and voted on Monday by the five-justice Supreme Court panel that both convicted and sentenced him to prison by 4 votes to 1 in September.

‘Pathetic illegal initiatives’

Local media reported that Bolsonaro, who was Brazil’s president from 2019 to 2022 and remains a key political player, was expected to begin serving his sentence sometime next week after all appeals of his conviction are exhausted.

Few protesters were outside the federal police headquarters in Brasilia as of Saturday morning, with more expected later as organizers of the vigil mentioned by Bolsonaro’s lawyers say they will move it to where the former president is jailed.

Detractors of the former president were celebrating online and scheduling parties later in the day in major Brazilian cities.

“The video shot by Flávio Bolsonaro stimulates the disrespect to the constitutional text, to the judicial decision and to (democratic) institutions, showing there’s no limits for the criminal organization in its attempt to create chaos and conflict in this country, in a total disrespect to democracy,” de Moraes wrote in his ruling.

Bolsonaro and several of his allies were convicted by a panel of Supreme Court justices for attempting to overthrow Brazil’s democracy following his 2022 election defeat. Prosecutors said the coup plot included plans to kill Lula, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and de Moraes.

Bolsonaro was also found guilty on charges of leading an armed criminal organization and attempting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law. He denies any wrongdoing.

Bolsonaro’s allies vow to defend him

Fabio Wajngarten, Bolsonaro’s former press adviser and lawyer, said the arrest of the former president was “a terrible stain on the institutions.”

Speaking in a video posted on X, Wajngarten added: “It’s a shame. I hope this is reviewed soon.” He claimed Bolsonaro’s ankle monitoring device was working perfectly as of Saturday morning.

“How could something that was broken, violated, be functioning normally nine hours later?” he wrote. “The president had dinner — a soup — yesterday with four brothers and brothers-in-law, took medication for hiccups, felt drowsy and laid down around 10 p.m. None of his sons were at the house.”

Sóstenes Cavalcante, Bolsonaro’s party whip in the lower house, accused de Moraes of showing “psychopathy at the highest level.”

“We will always stand by your side. Stay strong,” he said in a video shared with the AP. “We will respond appropriately.”

In an Instagram post, Michelle Bolsonaro, the former first lady, vowed Bolsonaro’s supporters “will not give up on our nation.” She was outside Brasilia when her husband was arrested at home.

Lula is in South Africa for a summit of the G20 group of industrialized and emerging-market nations. Gleisi Hoffmann, one of his top ministers, said on her social media channels that Bolsonaro’s arrest comes after “violent attempts of coersion” of Supreme Court justices by the former president.
‘Martyr and impactful popular leader’

Bolsonaro was placed under house arrest in early August, weeks before he was convicted. His lawyers were pleading with Brazil’s Supreme Court to keep him at home to serve his sentence, citing his poor health, but Brazilian law requires that all convicts start their sentences in prison.

Creomar de Souza, a political analyst with Dharma Political Risk and Strategy, a political consultancy firm based in Brasilia, said the move by de Moraes will impact next year’s presidential election, with Lula seeking reelection and Bolsonaro already barred from running.

“They had the idea of turning the 2026 election into a referendum on Bolsonaro. And for that to happen they needed actions, they needed to build an optics of Bolsonaro as a martyr and an impactful popular leader,” de Souza told the AP. “At the end of the day, this shows the Bolsonaro family they will need to build their own alternative for the 2026 elections.”


https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/2 ... n-00666034

[ti-amie]

[ponchi101]

There is another angle.
Remember that Tiny likes to be always the center of attention. And likes to say that a lot: "I will be meeting with such and such in a few days".
Probably he really does not even recall who Bolzanaro is.

[ti-amie]

‪BC Wildfire Weekly - Wildfires + More‬
‪@bcwildfirewkly.bsky.social‬
· 2h
LIVE: “Death toll in Hong Kong fire rises to 44 with 279 still missing, authorities say” www.bbc.com/news/live/c2... - BBC News (World)

#Breaking #BreakingNews
#HongKong #HongKongFire



https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c2emg1kj1klt

[ti-amie]

Updated
Nov. 26, 2025, 9:26 p.m. ET2 minutes ago
Live Updates: 3 Construction Officials Arrested in Fire That Killed 44 in Hong Kong

The exact cause of the blaze at a high-rise complex was not known, but the authorities suspect that materials on the exterior of the towers did not meet fire-safety standards.

Keith BradsherJoy DongAnushka Patil and Tina Zhou

Keith Bradsher reported from Beijing, and Joy Dong from Hong Kong.
Here’s the latest.

The Hong Kong police said on Thursday they had arrested three construction officials on suspicion of manslaughter, a day after a fire engulfed several high-rise towers, killing at least 44 people and leaving more than 270 missing.

The cause of the fire, which started on Wednesday afternoon and was still burning on Thursday morning, was not immediately known. But the authorities said building materials on the exterior of the towers in the apartment complex were suspected of not meeting fire-safety standards, potentially leading to its rapid spread. The three arrested included two directors of a construction company and a consultant who were between the ages of 52 and 68, the police said.

Lai Yee Chung, a senior police superintendent, said at a news conference on Thursday that in one of the buildings, foam boards known to be flammable were installed outside elevator lobby windows on every floor. The authorities believe there was “gross negligence” on the part of those responsible for construction, “leading to this accident and the rapid spread of the fire and such serious casualties,” she said.

The fire apparently started in one building in the Tai Po district around 2:50 p.m. local time and quickly spread across multiple high-rise towers, sending smoke billowing across the city’s northern New Territories. By Thursday morning, firefighters were making progress in controlling the blaze. An unknown number of residents remained trapped, officials said.

The towers are in a dense complex known as Wang Fuk Court that includes about 2,000 apartments. Built in the early 1980s, they were sheathed at the time of the blaze in bamboo scaffolding, which is widely used in Hong Kong to construct and repair buildings.

Police and fire services officials said they had received numerous calls for help from residents trapped inside the buildings. Herman Yiu Kwan-ho, a former district councilor in Tai Po, said that he was in touch with a group of local residents, some of whom live in one of the buildings that caught fire.

“More than 10 residents said their family members are still at their homes,” he said by phone.

The Hong Kong Fire Services Department mobilized more than 1,200 fire and ambulance personnel to the site, officials said. More than 900 people were evacuated to temporary shelters as the rescue work continued.

Here’s what else to know:

Rescue effort: Derek Armstrong Chan, deputy director of the fire service department, told reporters that the response was hindered by falling debris and scaffolding as well as high temperatures inside the buildings, making it difficult to access units where residents might be trapped. The ladders of two fire trucks appeared to reach only about halfway up the sides of the 32-story towers, and the tallest flames were far higher than where the water was being sprayed.

Bamboo scaffolding: Bamboo scaffolding is often used in Hong Kong for renovations to older buildings, which typically have many senior residents. The Hong Kong government announced plans last spring to begin phasing out the use of bamboo in scaffolding in favor of steel, which it said posed less of a fire risk. In October, the fire department attributed the rapid spread of a fire at an office building in Hong Kong’s central business district to bamboo scaffolding around the building.

Shelters: The government said it had opened temporary shelters at nearby community centers and a school to accommodate residents. Local news media published photos of some older residents being helped away from the fire and gathering at the shelters, and described police officers going door to door to urge residents to leave.

Alexandra Stevenson contributed reporting.

Gift Link
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2025/11/26 ... =url-share

[ti-amie]

Imagine if one of the ambassadors appointed by either President Obama or President Biden dressed like this.

[ponchi101]

Ambassador to where? Milan?