World News Random, Random

[ti-amie]

The U.N. will never work for anything of relevance as long as the veto of those five nations can overturn anything.
And when two of those nations are totalitarian regimes, just dismantle the place.

Their vetoes only occur in the Security Council, not in the General Assembly. So, maybe the General Assembly will do something that Russia can't veto.

Yes, that was said as well. Apparently the vote being so one-sided along with the abstentions that occurred instead of being no votes is an embarrassment to Putin. From those that cover UN regularly, I guess China was expected to be a NO vote, so the abstention from them is particularly embarrassing.

I have no idea about the relationship between Russia and UAE. Is that about oil or something else?

Word on the street

[ponchi101]

Russians in the UAE are three for a Ruble. They love to stash their money there, and their presence is ubiquitous.

[Deuce]

.

Olympic Athlete Gives Away Gold Medal to Protest China's Human Rights Violations...

.

[ponchi101]

to that man.

[JazzNU]

[JazzNU]

Anti-war protests break out as Belarus votes to renounce non-nuclear status

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Protesters took to the streets as Belarus held a referendum on Sunday to adopt a new constitution that would ditch its non-nuclear status at a time when the country has become a launchpad for Russian troops invading Ukraine.

The vote, almost certain to pass under the tightly controlled rule of President Alexander Lukashenko, could see nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil for the first time since the country gave them up after the fall of the Soviet Union.

It raises the stakes at a time when Lukashenko has fallen behind Russian President Vladimir Putin's military assault on Ukraine after earlier playing an intermediary role between the two neighbours.

The referendum sparked anti-war protests in several cities, as people chanted "no to war", cars blared their horns in solidarity, and people laid bunches of flowers in the yellow and blue colours of the Ukrainian flag.

At least 290 people were detained, rights activists said.

Protests had largely died down in Belarus after Lukashenko launched a violent crackdown on dissent against his 28-year-long rule. Mass protests had erupted in 2020 following a disputed election that opponents say Lukashenko rigged.

On Sunday, speaking at a polling station, Lukashenko said that he could ask Russia to return nuclear weapons to Belarus.

"If you (the West) transfer nuclear weapons to Poland or Lithuania, to our borders, then I will turn to Putin to return the nuclear weapons that I gave away without any conditions," Lukashenko said.

Lukashenko turned to Russia after the 2020 protests, securing loans that offset the effect of Western sanctions.

His rival in the 2020 vote, exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, had called on Belarusians to use the referendum vote to protest the war against Ukraine.

"For a long time I did not know how to start this appeal. Because how can you demand courageous actions from people who live in fear for a year and a half? The war we've been dragged into started two days ago," she said in a special address.

"But until now, the Belarusians have not declared publicly that they are against it, they have not shown this to the Ukrainians by their actions. So do I have the right to ask you for action? Maybe not. But I won't forgive myself if I don't try."

In videos and photos posted on social media, people gathered at polling stations in Minsk and other cities in Belarus to protest.

"There is little we can do now, with all this terror and horror in which we live. But I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't try to do something. We are already considered accomplices," said Elena, 45, who came to one of the polling stations along with a couple of dozen people. She declined to provide more personal information for security reasons.

The West has already said it will not recognise the results of the referendum, which is taking place against the background of the sweeping crackdown on domestic opponents of the government. According to human rights activists, as of Sunday, there were more than a thousand political prisoners in Belarus.

On Sunday, amateur ensembles performed at polling stations, food and cheap alcohol were sold in buffets.

The new constitution would give powers to the All-Belarusian People's Assembly, created by Lukashenko and populated by party loyalists, local councils, officials and activists of pro-government organizations.

It would also give lifetime immunity from prosecution to the president once he left office.


https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/la ... ce=twitter

[ponchi101]

All this talk involving nuclear weapons is insane, and dangerous. No need for that whatsoever.

[texasniteowl]

I can hear those explosions myself, right now. I'm in Kharkov.

Lots of talk about Kharkiv this morning on the news I am watching. Hope you are still ok...or at least as well as you can be.

[JazzNU]

[JazzNU]

[ponchi101]

By now I gather it is clear that Vlad miscalculated all of this.
I also believe that there is a new question: does he survive this mess? Even if he keeps Ukraine, Russia will be a disaster for years to come.

[Suliso]

Seems like Putin has poked a sleeping tiger a bit too hard.

[ponchi101]

An accumulation of all the things he has done ABROAD throughout the years. The poisoning of enemies, the invasion of Crimea, I would even say that the lack of response to the Olympic cheating finally awoke the west to the reality that he will not stop unless truly confronted.
I said it in some post a long time ago. He is a bully, and bullies are never appeased. You need to confront them directly.

[JazzNU]

And the former Finnish PM said the threats aren't something new from Russia, but the danger was lessened because Latvia and Lithuania were NATO members (Estonia obviously too, but it wasn't mentioned in the blurb I saw about the interview he gave) and I guess there was some reliance on that in their calculation in joining NATO in the past. But now that Putin's lost his damn mind, sounds like all bets are off.

[ti-amie]

There has been terrible flooding in Brazil as well.