#britain 2015 sunday | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ravenkings · 5 months ago

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The news business is in upheaval. A presidential election is barreling down the pike. Facing financial challenges and political division, several of America’s largest news organizations have turned over the reins to editors who prize relentless reporting on a budget. And they all happen to be British. Will Lewis, a veteran of London’s Daily Telegraph and News UK, is now the chief executive of The Washington Post, where reporters have raised questions about his Fleet Street ethics. He recently ousted the paper’s American editor and replaced her with a former colleague from The Telegraph, dumbfounding American reporters who had never heard of him. Emma Tucker (formerly of The Sunday Times) took over The Wall Street Journal last year, shortly after Mark Thompson (formerly of the BBC) became chairman of CNN, where he has ordered an American remake of the long-running BBC comedy quiz show “Have I Got News for You.”

They joined a slew of Brits already ensconced in the American media establishment. Michael Bloomberg, a noted Anglophile, hired John Micklethwait (former editor of the London-based Economist) in 2015 to run Bloomberg News. Rupert Murdoch tapped Keith Poole (The Sun and The Daily Mail) to edit The New York Post in 2021, the same year that The Associated Press named an Englishwoman, Daisy Veerasingham, as its chief executive. “We are the ultimate trophies for American billionaires,” joked Joanna Coles, the English-born editor who in April became head of The Daily Beast, the online news outlet itself named after a newspaper in an Evelyn Waugh novel. Ms. Coles has not hesitated to recruit more of her compatriots, installing a Scot as editor in chief and a Guardian reporter as Washington bureau chief. “We are loading up on Brits,” she said in an interview. [...] But while British journalists are used to intense competition, their journalistic rule book is not always in line with American standards. At The Washington Post, the home of Woodward and Bernstein, some of Mr. Lewis’s behavior has unsettled the newsroom. The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Mr. Lewis had urged The Post’s former editor, Sally Buzbee, to not cover a court decision concerning his involvement in Rupert Murdoch’s phone-hacking scandal in Britain. (A spokeswoman for Mr. Lewis has said that account of the conversation was inaccurate.) An NPR reporter then disclosed that Mr. Lewis had offered an exclusive interview if the reporter agreed to drop an article about the scandal. (The spokeswoman said that Mr. Lewis had spoken with NPR before joining The Post, and that after he joined The Post interview requests were “through the normal corporate communication channels.”) This kind of behavior may be acceptable at some London papers, where proprietors are less hesitant to fiddle with coverage. In American newsrooms, it’s verboten — as is the practice of paying for information. At The Telegraph, Mr. Lewis spent 110,000 pounds for documents that fueled a damaging exposé of parliamentary corruption. (His rivals at The Sun and The Times of London balked at a similar deal.) The Telegraph reporter who secured the documents, Robert Winnett, is set to become The Post’s editor later this year. As for the view across the pond? “We are all greeting this with a mix of amusement and indignation,” said one Fleet Street editor, who requested anonymity to avoid the ire of any overly sensitive superiors. (In keeping with the spirit of British tabloids, the request was granted.) “Amusement that these fancy high priests of American journalism are being monstered by good old-fashioned, tough-guy British editors; indignation that they find it so extraordinary that they might have something to learn from across the pond,” the editor said. “Yes, our standards are a bit lower, but we’re extremely competitive and intense and no-nonsense, and that’s probably helpful given how the industry is going.”

the fact that a lot of american billionaires seem to be spearheading this makes me wonder how much of it has to do with these journalists coming from a country where they have to work with notoriously wack libel laws and an extremely rigid class structure (and a monarchy which they kiss the ass of tbh) thus presumably making them more willing to kowtow to authority.............🤔🧐

#apologies to my lovely british mutuals of course but i don't think i'm wrong in my assessment here #politics #journalism #article

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mariacallous · 5 months ago

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(JTA) — France’s mainstream conservative party may join forces with the far right, shattering a decades-long political norm to shun a party with a history of antisemitism.

Eric Ciotti, president of the right-wing Republicans (known in French as Les Républicains), called for a country-wide alliance with the National Rally (or Rassemblement National) during a television appearance on France’s TF1 on Tuesday.

“We say the same things so let’s stop making up imagined opposition,” said Ciotti, becoming the first establishment leader in modern French politics to seek an alliance with the National Rally, led by three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen.

Ciotti said he hoped to hitch the increasingly “weak” Republicans to the success of the National Rally, which won a historic victory in the European Parliament elections on Sunday, scoring over 30% of the vote and crushing President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance. France’s results matched a surge of far-right parties across the continent, including gains in Italy and Germany.

In response to the defeat, Macron dissolved parliament and called a snap election for June 30 and July 7. But his gamble on stalling France’s lurch to the far-right may backfire: The National Rally has already been forecast to win the election.

In the past, France’s establishment parties have joined to block power from the anti-immigration, Eurosceptic National Rally, long known for its antisemitic roots. The party was founded in 1972 by Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marine Le Pen’s father, as the National Front. Jean-Marie Le Pen, 95, has been repeatedly convicted of antisemitic hate speech, famously calling the Nazi gas chambers a mere “detail” of World War II and saying the Nazi occupation of France was not “particularly inhumane.”

Another founding member of the party was Pierre Bousequet, a former commander in the Nazi Party’s Waffen-SS.

Since Marine Le Pen took the helm in 2011, she has attempted to scrub the party’s past and win mainstream acceptance. She distanced herself from her father’s antisemitic rhetoric and expelled him from the party in 2015. Meanwhile, she has honed in on Muslims — who make up 11% of the French population — as a threat to the country.

But even as Marine Le Pen has publicly denounced antisemitism, her supporters still disproportionately harbor antisemitic attitudes, according to Nonna Mayer, a political scientist at Sciences Po university.

“Every time we do our surveys, we see that people who are voters or sympathizers of the National Rally are the most antisemitic of all, even though their first target is Arabs, Muslims, Maghrebis,” Mayer told RFI last year, using a term referring to people from North Africa.

Ciotti’s offer to unite with the far-right risks splitting his own party, as he was quickly rebuked by several high-ranking Republicans who demanded his resignation.

Olivier Marleix, the party’s leader in the lower house of parliament, said on X, “Eric Ciotti only speaks for himself. He must leave the presidency of the Republicans.”

Gérard Larcher, another Republican leader and president of the French Senate, also said that Ciotti “can no longer chair our movement and must resign.”

Interior minister Gérald Darmanin, a former Republican who left for Macron’s party, compared Ciotti’s announcement with the 1938 Munich Agreement — in which France, Britain and Italy attempted to appease Hitler by allowing Germany to annex part of Czechoslovakia one year before the outbreak of World War II.

Ciotti “brings dishonor to the Gaullist family,” said Darmanin. He referenced the Republican party’s line of descent from a right-wing party founded by former President Charles de Gaulle after World War II, when de Gaulle fought against Nazi Germany and the Vichy collaborationist regime.

The Union of Jewish Students of France called a snap rally on Tuesday in response to Ciotti’s announcement. “Let’s be numerous. No to compromise,” the group tweeted before dozens of people demonstrated outside the Republicans headquarters, carrying signs that said, “De Gaulle is not Le Pen.”

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stelly38 · 1 year ago

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LOLOLLLL

I copy/pasted this from Buzzfeed. Dated March of 2015. It's the kind of piss-taking I can totally get behind. They claim they got drunk and had this conversation... this was basically my inner monologue while watching the series completely sober.

Everyone Is Talking About “Poldark” So We Got Drunk And Watched It

Because, you know, Aidan Turner.

If Sunday night Twitter is anything to go by, however, Poldark is mostly a showcase for the brooding charms of Aidan Turner – an unreasonably sexy man last seen being an unreasonably sexy dwarf in Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy – here playing the facially and emotionally scarred Ross Poldark with an unreasonably sexy intensity.

This week we (Daniel Dalton and Hannah Jewell) watched the first two episodes of the show. Here's what we learned.

Daniel Dalton: Had you heard about the show before we watched it?

Hannah Jewell: I knew nothing about this show, other than the fact that it was arousing the middle-aged women of Britain quite effectively.

DD: I knew nothing either. Insert period drama here. I didn’t even know there were books. Shall we start with a plot summary?

HJ: This is a show about dangerous cliffs and even more dangerous men.

DD: This is a show about buying a mine, sexily.

HJ: This is a show about responsible agricultural landownership, but sexy.

DD: This is a show about the one sunny weekend in Cornwall. With sexy results.

DD: Okay, so to summarise, Ross Poldark – Aidan Turner – has been fighting a war and everyone thinks he’s dead and then he comes back all sexy and his ex is about to marry his cousin, who is a proper wet fish.

HJ: And cliffs.

DD: There are three clifftop scenes in the first 10 minutes. Happy cliff, sad cliff, horseback cliff. I lost count after that...

HJ: Pretty sure there was another sad cliff shortly after the horseback cliff.

DD: This is a show about gazing wistfully from clifftops.

HJ: He gets back and his dad is dead and his estate is worthless. He wants to get a loan but no one will lend to him. Poor, sexy Poldark.

DD: It's really hard to get a loan these days, to be fair.

HJ: What year was it set?

DD: Like, 2014 I think. Or 2013. The recession hit everyone pretty hard.

HJ: OK, so it's the 1780s. I googled it. I feel like the whole thing is hinged around this utterly unconvincing love triangle. Like, 'I wonder who she’ll end up with – the wet fish or the dark, rugged, passionate one the show’s named after?'

DD: They put a lot of effort into lighting Aidan Turner's magnificence, and forgot about dramatic tension. I got up to get whiskey every time they talked about arranged marriages or mining. Honestly, any time Poldark wasn’t on-screen I kinda zoned out.

HJ: You kept checking Twitter.

DD: Yes.

HJ: What does Twitter have that Poldark doesn’t?

DD: Personal validation. Everything about Poldark makes me feel terrible about myself. He’s so handsome.

HJ: I may not have been paying attention the whole time either. Mostly I was assessing our whiskey situation.

DD: Here are some questions I had: How does he keep his stubble so on point? In TV, why is it always so easy to rip sheets? Am I just weak? Why does no one in film ever eat quietly? I wanted to stab out my eardrums with a fork. Also, in period dramas, how do they all learn the dance? Is there just one? Do they have a seminar? These are the things I was thinking about while watching Poldark. I was pretty Poldrunk.

HJ: Polsame.

DD: Loldark.

HJ: OK plot. Poldark arrives back in town and of course the wedding is in a fortnight. They would have done it immediately, or in a month’s time, but then they wouldn’t have been able to say “the wedding’s in a fortnight”. It’s the most tragic amount of time. Also, this is why you should never remarry when your lover dies in war. Because they always surprise you later, being alive and well and ruggedly handsome. Every time.

DD: Just never leave, or if you leave, never come back. Or just never love anyone. Love is the worst.

HJ: Remind me to never run through a meadow upon a cliff by the sea at sunset – you’re just asking for future plot trouble.

DD: And for some reason everyone was obsessed with mines. I was like, ‘Wait! Is this a show about a guy getting a mine?’ I felt like I’d been tricked into watching a show about mining by Aidan Turner’s eyebrow game.

HJ: He’s like a sexy venture capitalist. But instead of the next Tinder clone, he’s got like, a shit mine.

DD: And still he stayed and tried to make a go of his mine. The most implausible part was that he didn’t want to leave Cornwall.

DD: Aidan Turner might be a good actor, but I have no idea. He walks around being moody about things. And sexy. He always looks like he forgot what he went into the room for. The answer is always sexiness.

HJ: Man loves to stare out a window. He knows his angles. And his retorts. Poldark loves a zinger.

DD: He does. And he loves hammering things. And building walls with his bare hands. And carrying fairly light bales of straw. He’s a saint. A saint I tell you. Sexily sainting around, with his saintly eyebrows.

HJ: I wanted more Aidan Turner. I felt like I’d been promised more. There was a bit when he was swimming and I was like “OH YEAHHH HERE HE IS ALL NEKKID AND SWIMMING” but it was too far away. And only for like, two seconds.

DD: Even I wanted more. Polboner.

HJ: Like zoom in, BBC. Zoom in. Fuck.

DD: What about Elizabeth?

HJ: Again, it’s like, I see you, I see your proportionate facial structure, I see your ample bosom, I see your forbidden glances, but in the end I’m still like, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

DD: So her whole deal is she used to be with Poldark and now she’s with his cousin, whasisname.

HJ: Francis.

DD: I felt Poldark could do better, to be fair. She seems nice. But also, like, how are you just gonna go ahead and marry his cousin? Poldark is so goddamn sexy. Everyone’s loins would be ablaze at all times in his presence. Her dad would be like, “You better fuck Poldark before I do.”

HJ: It's like a gun in a Chekhov play: If you have a man this sexy in a costume drama, he has to get laid.

HJ: Why was it always sunny in the late 18th century?

DD: They filmed it on August bank holiday. Everyone knows that it’s the only sunny time of the year.

HJ: This would all be much more believable if it rained, like, once. They’re probably saving up the rainy scene for when they do sex. That’s how sex works, see.

DD: Everyone sounds like Hagrid. "Yer a wizard, Poldark." Actually that would have been a better show. Everything is hyper glossy and luscious. It looks like Broadchurch. Like Broadchurch: The Poldark Years.

HJ: Why are Poldark's servants constantly boning? SERVANT MAN CANNOT STOP FUCKING HIS SERVANT WIFE.

DD: There was nothing else to do in the 1780s. You were either fucking or gazing wistfully from clifftops, into distances, etc.

HJ: The servants are like, “Hey, how many stereotypical places can we fuck?” so far they’ve done 1) haystack, 2) meadow.

DD: Maybe they have a checklist. A fucklist. A fuckitlist.

HJ: Being wealthy in the 1780s just meant strolling forlornly through some hedgerows being pursued by a nervous man named Francis.

DD: Wait, who is Francis?

HJ: His cousin. Fishface.

DD: Oh, fuck that guy. I genuinely thought Ross was going to murder him in the mine. “Here, cousin. Come down this mine with me. Let me murder you, in the face. With sexiness.”

HJ: “Maybe we can find you a stronger chin down here.”

DD: Then he tries to drown him. Bit of drowning never hurt anyone.

HJ: Like, you grew up in Cornwall and you can’t swim mate.

DD: His lack of ability to swim is odd because he’s such a wet fish.

HJ: Then there was the maid.

DD: Demelza. They kept calling her "the child" like she’s not the same age as them.

HJ: She’s like, 23. The second she turned up I knew she’d be well fit under all that grime, and that it was only a matter of time before they boned.

DD: Yes. She’s a redhead. Of course she was going to turn out gorgeous. After an angry bath.

HJ: By the fourth episode he'll be like, “I’m such an egalitarian that I *suppose* I'll fuck this hot redhead even though she's a bit poor.”

DD: “Society may be prejudiced against your poverty, but my dick sure ain’t.”

HJ: But no. No sex for her. Not yet anyway.

DD: Just a frolick or two. She had a bath then frolicked in a meadow. There’s really nothing else to do in Cornwall if you're not fucking and you don’t like cliffs.

DD: Speaking of which, there was distinct lack of boning in this.

HJ: Absolutely. Like in this even the IMPLIED boning is rubbish. The best we got was when Francis touches Elizabeth’s shoulder for a second, but it cut away immediately. Not that I would have wanted to see THAT sex.

DD: Imagine fucking that guy.

HJ: He’d just stare at you, stroking himself with two hands.

DD: If this were HBO it would be bone central. Wall-to-wall boning. Cliffs and boning.

HJ: There were THREE potential sex scenes in the second episode and they were ALL cut away from.

DD: What channel is this on again?

HJ: CBeebies.

DD: Clearly this is an issue. Someone needed to fuck. On camera.

HJ: There’s the bit where Poldark was in town and Elizabeth was also in town and she just handed him a pile of linens she had purchased and their hands kinda touched and that’s supposed to pass for sex in this show.

DD: Fuck hands. I wanted their crotches to touch.

HJ: I wanted to see some full-on dick.

DD: We’re terrible people. Maybe Poldark is fine, and it’s us that’s awful.

DD: Honestly, I don’t even know what the big deal is about this show.

HJ: Me neither. I felt like I needed a murder or a boob to keep me going.

DD: Game of Thrones has ruined us. Without murders or boobs, what is there? I’m so unengaged. This is just a bunch of people being miserable near cliffs. I’m not sure I can recommend this.

HJ: If it just had a believable romance.

DD: All it has is Aidan Turner. Maybe that’s all it needs.

HJ: Yeah, to be fair, by the end I was like, ‘Ohhhh, I get it now.’ I was also drunk.

DD: I mean. I'm going to keep watching it. Because Aidan Turner. Obvs.

HJ: Obvs.

#poldark bbc #taking the piss #lololol #period drama #yes to all of this

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collapsedsquid · 11 months ago

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Venezuela’s commitment to pursue the territorial claim has fluctuated over the years. Its interest piqued again in 2015 when ExxonMobil announced it had found oil in commercial quantities off the Essequibo coast. The latest chapter on the dispute has sowed anger among area residents, the majority of whom are Indigenous people, against Guyana’s government. Information on the referendum has reached them mostly through inaccurate social media posts that have only created confusion among the Guyanese. “We feel neglected as the people of this land. Nothing is being done for us at the moment,” said Michael Williams, an Indigenous leader for the Essequibo village of Annai. “The government (...) only comes when they want our votes. Now, there’s this dispute. Nobody is here to tell us, ‘These are the issues. This may come. Let us prepare for it. We are negotiating. We hope for the best.’ Nobody is coming to tell us that.” The disputed boundary was decided by arbitrators from Britain, Russia and the United States. The U.S. represented Venezuela on the panel in part because the Venezuelan government had broken off diplomatic relations with Britain. Venezuelan officials contend the Americans and Europeans conspired to cheat their country out of the land and argue that a 1966 agreement to resolve the dispute effectively nullified the original arbitration. Guyana, the only English-speaking country in South America, maintains the initial accord is legal and binding and asked the world court in 2018 to rule it as such. Venezuelan voters on Sunday will have to answer whether they “agree to reject by all means, in accordance with the law,” the 1899 boundary and whether they support the 1966 agreement “as the only valid legal instrument” to reach a solution.

Trying to normalize relations with the US just recently and now trying to pull a Saddam Hussein.

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thecrimecrypt · 2 years ago

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Crimes That Shook Britain (East Midlands)

Murder of Kayleigh Haywood Kayleigh Haywood, 15, met Luke Harlow, 28, online in 2015. For two weeks, with over 2,600 texts, he groomed her. Said she was beautiful, declared his love, persuaded her to visit.

On Friday 15 November, Kayleigh’s dad dropped her at Ibstock Community College, Leicestershire, believing she was staying with a friend. At Harlow’s flat, Kayleigh met his neighbour Stephen Beadman, 29, and she was abused, plied with alcohol.

Her worried parents reported her missing. At 3am Sunday morning, a neighbour saw Kayleigh flee Harlow’s flat, naked from the waist down. Beadman chased her, raped her and killed her with a brick. Harlow was jailed 12 years for sexual activity, grooming and falsely imprisoning a child.

Beadman was jailed for life for rape, murder and false imprisonment of a child.

Colin Pitchfork November 1983 - Lynda Mann, 15, was found raped and strangled in Narborough.

The case went cold until July 1986, when Dawn Ashworth, 15, was raped and strangled less than a mile away. The year before, Alec Jeffreys, a British genetics researcher, had discovered DNA profiling.

Testing semen samples found at both crime scenes, Jeffreys linked the cases. Police asked local men aged 17 to 34 to submit blood. Jeffreys tested the DNA samples.

After being overheard admitting he paid a colleague to provide blood on his behalf, local man Colin Pitchfork, then 25, was arrested. His DNA matched both samples, and he was jailed for life.

Susan and Christopher Edwards In October 2013, police dug up a garden in Mansfield and found the remains of former residents Patricia and William Wycherley, 63 and 85.

The pairs daughter Susan Edwards, 56, and husband Christopher, 57, were arrested - turned out they’d shot and buried them in May 1998. For 15 years, Susan said her parents were travelling, but after living off their benefits, a letter to William from the Department For Work and Pensions scared them to confess.

They were convicted of murder and given life.

The Philpotts At 4am on 11 May 2012, Mick and Mairead Philpott’s home, 18 Victory Road, Derby, went up in flames. Despite Mick’s apparently valiant efforts to save their kids, Duwayne, 13, Jade, 10, John, 9, Jack, 7, Jesse, 6, and Jayden, 5, all died.

Detectives found petrol inside the letterbox, and suspected arson. But while Mick and Mairead sobbed during a TV press conference, police already considered them suspects. A tangled love triangle emerged. Mick’s mistress, who’d lived with the Philpotts, had walked out with her five kids- a custody hearing loomed.

Mick planned to torch the family home, frame his ex love, and win custody. But a horrific fireball engulfed the house, trapping his and Mairead’s children upstairs.

In April 2013, Mick and Mairead Philpott were found guilty of six counts of manslaughter. Mick was jailed for life, Mairead for 17 years. A friend involved in the plot - Paul Mosley, 47 - also got a 17 year sentence for manslaughter.

Murder of Danielle Beccan On her way home from the Nottingham Goose Fair in October 2004, Danielle Beccan, 14, was shot in the stomach and killed in a drive-by.

Junior Andrews, then 24, and Mark Kelly, then 20, part of the Waterfront gang, were charged. They hated the St Ann’s area where Danielle lived and they’d wanted to ‘shoot up’ people.

When they saw Danielle, Kelly pulled up next to her and Andrews opened fire. Andrews and Kelly were jailed for life.

Beverley Allitt Liam Taylor, 7 months, was the first victim of serial killer nurse Beverley Allitt, then 22, in February 1991 at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincolnshire.

Within 59 days she’d killed Timothy Hardwick, 11, Becky Phillips, 2 months, and Claire Peck, 15 months, and tried to kill or harm nine more children. Staff became suspicious of the number of heart attacks on the ward.

Allitt was the only nurse on duty when the children were attacked. She’d given at least two of them large doses of insulin. In May 1993, Allitt was given 13 life sentences.

#murder #truecrime #tc community #tcc family #serialkillers #blog #the crime crypt #true crime community #true crime junkie #East Midlands #Britain #Crimes that shook britain #Beverley Allitt #Mick Philpott #Colin Pitchfork #Kayleigh Haywood #mairead philpott

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usafphantom2 · 2 years ago

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Legendary Vulcan bomber will make the last engine drive before definitive retirement

Fernando Valduga By Fernando Valduga 11/16/2022 - 20:36 in Military

The legendary Vulcan bomber who held several demonstrations in the United Kingdom until 2015 will last drive its engines this week after the decision that the plane should be "retired" definitively.

Anyone who wants to hear the iconic "uivo" created by the Olympus engines of the Vulcan "XH558" for the last time can stay on a road on the outskirts of Doncaster airport, where it will be easily audible.

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The Vulcan "XH558" has gone through a turbulent period since its operational retirement in 1984 as the last of its kind flying in the RAF. It was grounded for much of the 1990s before being restored to fly in the mid-2000s, after a public fundraising effort raised £6.5 million to save the Vulcan.

After the Royal International Air Tattoo air show in 2015, the XH558 bomber, called Spirit of Great Britain, made his last flight to his current home at Doncaster airport. Although there were plans for the plane to become an educational resource, with the possible closure of the airport on which it is based, its future became uncertain again.

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The Vulcan XH558 is one of the three aircraft of the type in taxiing conditions that still exist. A last transfer flight was initially considered, but was considered very expensive by Vulcan to the Sky Trust, the organization in charge of maintaining the bomber. Thus, the aircraft will have to be dismantled for future relocation.

The old bomber has become the public's favorite at many aerial shows, including Fairford, for its characteristic engine noise, called howl by many. This loud and penetrating noise is made by Vulcan when its oxygen intake is limited to 90% before takeoff.

A group that campaigns to save the plane gave the news to supporters, saying: "With a heavy heart, on [Sunday] November 20, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., you will be able to see the last engine test of the XH558 before being put to sleep forever. This is to make the public aware that they can see this from Old Bawtry Road, in front of the airport, if you want to hear that last howl be there for the last time. Such a sad ending for the best example of the remaining Vulcan bombers."

Tags: Military AviationAvro Vulcan XH558

Fernando Valduga

Aviation photographer and pilot since 1992, he has participated in several events and air operations, such as Cruzex, AirVenture, Dayton Airshow and FIDAE. It has works published in specialized aviation magazines in Brazil and abroad. Uses Canon equipment during his photographic work in the world of aviation.

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giftsforus · 2 years ago

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Malaysia faces hung parliament for first time in history

Malaysia is facing a hung parliament for the first time in its political history, after a divisive, tightly-contested general election left major parties unable to secure enough votes to form a new government.

The result has thrust the Southeast Asian country into fresh political turmoil, as rival leaders scramble to broaden collations in renewed efforts to form a clear majority. Whoever wins will become Malaysia’s fourth prime minister in as many years, as the country grapples with rising inflation and a cost of living crisis.

With all but one parliamentary seat declared Sunday morning, veteran opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s multi-ethnic Pakatan Harapan coalition was ahead, having secured 82 seats from a possible 220, according to results from the country’s Election Commission.

Close behind is former Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s Malay-based Perikatan Nasional, or National Alliance, with 73 seats. Muhyiddin’s group includes an Islamist party that has openly backed shariah or Islamic law.

But in the biggest upset of the night, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, made up of center right political parties including the dominant United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), suffered a stunning defeat – winning just 30 seats.

Officials from UMNO, which ruled Malaysia for more than six decades following its independence from Britain, previously told CNN the party had “a lot of work” to do and did not want to go backwards.

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Once indomitable figures were also thrust out. The country’s former prime minister, 97-year-old Mahathir Mohamad suffered defeat for the first time in 53 years, losing his seat in the Langkawi island constituency.

The lack of a clear winner in Saturday’s election now presents the possibility Malaysia’s King could become involved, with the constitution granting the monarch power to determine who has the majority in parliament.

Malaysia is braced for major floods. So why is it holding an election?

Both leading candidates declared victory on Sunday, despite results showing neither has enough votes to form a government.

In a late night speech to supporters Saturday, Anwar claimed he had enough support from members of parliament to form a government and would detail his support in a letter to the King. Muhyiddin also told his supporters he was in discussions with leaders of the Sabah and Sarawak political parties to also form a coalition.

Since 2015, Malaysian politics has been overshadowed by the 1MDB corruption scandal, which saw billions of dollars of taxpayers money embezzled out of the country. It brought down former prime minister, Najib Razak, who is now serving a 12-year prison sentence for corruption.

Ahead of the polls, many voters expressed a strong desire to end years of political instability. And on Saturday, voters headed to polls in huge numbers, with state media estimating turnout to be 73.89% – despite heavy rains and flooding which hindered campaigning across half of the country in recent weeks.

Anwar the survivor

If Anwar is able to secure a coalition with enough votes to form a government, it would represent a remarkable comeback for the veteran politician, who was imprisoned for sodomy and released in 2018.

Anwar made his name as a student activist in various Muslim youth groups in Kuala Lumpur in the late 1960s, as the country reeled from the protracted Communist insurgency of the Malayan Emergency.

Arrested in 1974 in student protests against rural poverty, Anwar was sentenced to 20 months in jail. Despite his firebrand reputation, he later confounded liberal supporters in 1982 by joining the conservative United Malays National Organization (UMNO) led by Mahathir.

The freed politician was the heir apparent to then-premier Mahathir until 1998, when he was sacked and charged for corruption and sodomy. He was found guilty the following year, a ruling that led to mass street demonstrations.

The sodomy conviction was overturned, but the corruption verdict was never lifted, barring him from running for political post until a decade later.

In 2008, once his ban on political participation was lifted, he was hit with further sodomy charges.

Following an appeal of the acquittal of those charges he was convicted again and jailed in 2015. Human rights groups were highly critical when the conviction was upheld, calling it politically motivated – a claim the government denied.

Anwar was released three years later, immediately joining with one time political opponent Mahathir to oust the ruling Barisan party for the first time in Malaysia’s history. The success, however, was short lived, with the coalition collapsing after less than two years in power.

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mediamonarchy · 19 days ago

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https://mediamonarchy.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/20241017_MorningMonarchy.mp3 Download MP3 Cloning giant hybrid sheep, dead Ethel Kennedys and the Octopus murders + this day in history w/unavoidable dystopian futures and our song of the day by Occult Character on your #MorningMonarchy for October 17, 2024. Notes/Links: Shocktober Surprise IV https://mediamonarchy.com/series/shocktober-surprise-iv/ The chicken that lived for 18 months without a head (Sep. 10, 2015) https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34198390 Crow causes power outage in SE Portland, PGE says; About 1,269 customers were without power around 11 a.m. Sunday morning https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2024/10/crow-causes-power-outage-in-se-portland-pge-says.html Montana Rancher Who Created Giant, Hybrid Sheep Sentenced to Six Months in Prison; Arthur “Jack” Schubarth cloned illegally imported genetic material from the Marco Polo argali to create hybrid sheep that would draw higher prices from hunting preserves https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/montana-rancher-who-created-giant-hybrid-sheep-sentenced-to-six-months-in-prison-180985194/ Video: Montana man to be sentenced for creating then cloning giant hybrid sheep (Audio) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91uCZTucOV8 ‘Ground Zero With Clyde Lewis’ Montage Made By Media Monarchy – “We Are The Monkey Business World (RERUN – Climate Bi…” (Nov. 15, 2013 // Audio) Former Mr. Bungle Member Found Guilty of Murdering Girlfriend; Theo Lengyel faces life in prison when sentenced next month https://archive.is/ypJ9y Music star Jake E. Lee is shot multiple times in Las Vegas https://archive.is/gJRaT Nell Smith Dead At 17 Nell Smith, the Canadian teenage music prodigy best known for her collaborations with the Flaming Lips, has died. No cause of death has been announced. Smith was 17. https://www.stereogum.com/2283277/nell-smith-dead-at-17/news/ Former Great Britain athlete dies aged 28 https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8rd88zd0j0o Team GB star dies at 28 after psychosis diagnosis https://archive.is/m8PjB Liam Payne, former One Direction member, dies at 31 in Argentina https://www.msn.com/en-us/music/news/liam-payne-former-one-direction-member-dies-at-31-in-argentina/ar-AA1soLXT One Direction singer Liam Payne dead after falling from Buenos Aires hotel balcony https://www.reuters.com/world/one-direction-singer-liam-payne-found-dead-buenos-aires-local-media-reports-2024-10-16/ Liam Payne https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liam_Payne Scottish DJ Jackmaster dies of a head injury in Ibiza aged 38 https://news.sky.com/story/scottish-dj-jackmaster-dies-of-a-head-injury-in-ibiza-aged-38-13232691 Woman died 39 after becoming trapped by faulty ottoman bed https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/woman-died-after-becoming-trapped-30134515 Mother dies after being trapped and suffocated in ottoman bed https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ottoman-bed-inquest-suffocated-death-helen-davey-b2628761.html Mother tragically killed by ottoman bed in freak accident before daughter finds her trapped https://archive.is/rpp9r Madonna pays heartfelt tribute to brother Christopher; Madonna has paid tribute to her brother Christopher Ciccone, who has died at the age of 63, describing him as “the closest thing to me for so long” https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3rl1y3wp0jo Scotland’s former First Minister Alex Salmond dies age 69; “Local media reports said he collapsed during a lunch and was pronounced dead at the scene. The Alba party, which he led, believe the cause of death to be a heart attack, according to the Press Association news agency.” https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8rd8z70pn8o Alex Salmond and Vaccine https://search.brave.com/search?q=Alex+Salmond+vacccine&source=desktop&summary=1&summary_og=e988311732eefa2c1bfa32 Allan Blye, Emmy-Winning Writer for ‘The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour,’ ‘Van Dyke and Company,’ Dies at 87 Blye met and befriended Bob Einstein while both worked on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, resulting in a writing and producing partner...

#alternative news #holy hexes #media monarchy #Morning Monarchy #mp3 #Occult Character #podcast #Songs Of The Day #This Day In History

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biographygen · 1 month ago

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Emma D’Arcy Biography, Net Worth, Career, Boyfriend and Family

Emma D’Arcy Biography, Net Worth, Age, Boyfriend and Family discover the life of Emma D'Arcy, including details explore the journey of this talented actress. Full NameEmma Zia D’ArcyNet Worth$1.2 MillionDate Of Birth27 June 1992Age32 YearsGenderNon-BinaryHeight5 Feet 7 Inches All things considered, Round of High positions fans are truly eager to see D'Arcy in the job of grown-up Rhaenyra Targaryen in Place of the Mythical serpent. All in all, could you get a little look at what d'arcy's identity is? Or more all, we should not neglect to utilize the pronouns they and them.

Emma D’Arcy Biography

Emma D’Arcy Biography bron on 27 June 1992, age is 32 Years of age starting around 2024. She was brought into the world in a very much settled family from London, Britain. She holds an English identity and has her confidence in Christian religion. Her zodiac sign is Malignant growth. She completed her early graduation at Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford, England. They procured basic recognition and a Brilliant Globe Grant selection for playing the lead job of Rhaenyra Targaryen in Place of the Winged serpent. They have additionally showed up in the show films Misconduct (2020) and Mothering Sunday (2021). Full NameEmma Zia D’ArcyNicknameEmma PorfessionActors and ModelPhysical Height Eye Colour Hair Colour 5 Feet 7 Inches Green Eye BlondeWeight53 KGDate Of Birth27 June 1992Age32 YearsNet Worth$1.2 MillionNationalityBritishHometownLondonBirthplaceLondon, EnglandReligionChristianSchoolLocal High School in London, EnglandCollege/UniversityRuskin School of Art, University of Oxford, EnglandEducation QualificationGraduatCurrently Live InLondon, EnglandZodiac SignCancerFamous ForPlaying in television drama series such as House of the DragonMarital StatusUnmarriedParents Name: Father Mother Richard John D’Arcy Sally Elizabeth D’ArcyBrother SisterLeo D’Arcy

Emma D’Arcy Net Worth

Emma Zia D'Arcy expertly known as Emma D'Arcy is an English entertainer and theater craftsman. Starting around 2024, Emma D'Arcy's total assets is $1.2 million. She aggregated her total assets through acting vocation in TV series, show and movies. She rose to popularity as Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen in dream show TV series Place of the Mythical serpent and appearance in the BBC show miniseries A strong desire for new adventures of 2015.

Emma D’Arcy Career

Emma D'Arcy has showed up in a few theater creations their earliest appearances were in Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman at the Oxford Playhouse, Romeo and Juliet at London's Southwark Playhouse, and Misleading content at In 2016, D'Arcy played Tammy Frazier in Callisto. A Strange Epic, coordinated by Thomas Bailey, at the Arcola Theatre.They featured as Ringer in the April 2017 creation A Young lady in School Uniform at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. In August 2017, D'Arcy showed up close by Ben Whishaw in writer Christopher Shinn's Against, at the Almeida Theater. Composing for Artistic expressions Work area, Aleks Sierz applauded D'Arcy's presentation as well as the creation's "glorious snapshots of wry humor and intense close to home understanding.

Emma D’Arcy Parents & Family

Emma D'Arcy's folks are Richard John and Sally Elizabeth D'Arcy. Emma D'Arcy's father name is Richard John D'Arcy who is a finance manager by calling. Emma D'Arcy's mom's name is Sally Elizabeth D'Arcy who is a housewife. She has one kin; her brother name is Leo D'Arcy. Very much like other celeb, Emma is additionally keeping her family member’s profession and different subtleties inside herself. Now and again, she posts their photos on her web-based entertainment stages. You might also like:- - Jennifer Lawrence Biography, Net Worth, Early Life, Career, Boyfriend - Arnold Schwarzenegger Biography, Net Worth, Early Life, Career, Girlfriend Read the full article

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umlewis · 4 months ago

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🐐👑 📷 steve etherington / emily davenport / alastair staley / jerry andre / mirko stange / mark sutton / steve etherington / fia pool / steven tee

#lewis hamilton #f1 #formula 1 #british gp 2024 #fic ref #fic ref 2024 #britain #britain 2024 sunday #britain 2008 sunday #britain 2014 sunday #britain 2015 sunday #britain 2016 sunday #britain 2017 sunday #britain 2019 sunday #britain 2020 sunday #britain 2021 sunday #peter bonnington

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brookston · 2 months ago

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Holidays 9.15

Holidays

Aglaia Asteroid Day

Battle of Britain Day (UK)

Bocage Day (Portugal)

Born to Be Wild Day

Cantabria Day (Spain)

Capitol Hill Day

Carbon Day

Chestnut Day (French Republic)

Echo Asteroid Day

Eleven Days of Global Unity, Day 5: Health

Engineer's Day (India)

Felt Hat Day

Free Money Day

German American Heritage Month begins [until 10.15]

Google Awareness Day

Grand Magal de Touba (Senegal)

Greenpeace Day

Grito de Dolores (a.k.a. Cry of Dolores; Mexico)

Hunger Action Day

International Day of Democracy (UN)

International Dot Day

International Gotcha Day

International Hypothalamic Hamartoma Awareness Day

International Myotonic Dystrophy Awareness Day

International Sing Out Day

International Wiedemann-Steiner Syndrome Awareness Day

Knowledge Day (Azerbaijan)

LGBT Center Awareness Day

Libraries Day (Belarus)

Make A Hat Day

Moonpie Day (Republic of Molossia)

National Africa Civility Day

National Brain Health Day

National Caregivers Day

National Cozy Mystery Day

National Custom Framing Day

National Day of the Cowgirl

National 8-Track Tape Day [also 4.11]

National Felt Hat Day

National Hispanic Heritage Month begins [until 10.15]

National Hug Your Boss (UK)

National Malcolm Day

National Muslim Voter Registration Day

National Neonatal Nurses Day

National Online Learning Day

National Ruben Day

National Tackle Kids Cancer Day

National Thank You Day

915 Day

Nuestra Señora de la Bien Aparecida (Cantabria, Spain)

Oriana Fallaci Day

Pension Awareness Day (UK)

Restoration of Primorska to the Motherland Day (Slovenia)

Roberto Clemente Day

Silpa Buirasri Day (Thailand)

Social Workers’ Day (Moldova)

Someday

Tackle Kids Cancer Day

Thimphu Tshechu (Bhutan)

World Afro Day

World Chimamanda Day

World Engineers Day

World Lymphoma Awareness Day

Zombie in the Machine Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie Day

Chicken Lovers' Day

National Cheese Toast Day

National Creme de Menthe Day

National Day of Pozole (Mexico)

National Double Cheeseburger Day

National Linguine Day

Independence & Related Days

Costa Rica (from Spain, 1821)

Cry of Dolores (Mexico)

El Salvador (from Spain, 1821)

Guatemala (from Spain, 1821)

Honduras (from Spain, 1821)

Lutherania (Declared; 2006) [unrecognized]

Nicaragua (from Spain, 1821)

Occitania (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

Restoration of Primorska to the Motherland Day (Slovenia)

Russian Republic (Proclaimed; 1917)

3rd Sunday in September

Day of Wallonia (Belgium) [3rd Sunday]

Federal Day of Thanksgiving, Repentance and Prayer (Switzerland) [3rd Sunday]

Forestry and Timber Industry Worker’s Day [3rd Sunday]

International Day of Prayer & Action for Human Habitat [3rd Sunday]

Kaua’i Mokihana Festival begins (Hawaii) [3rd Sunday]

Mother’s Day (Kazakhstan) [3rd Sunday]

National ALS Awareness Day (Italy) [3rd Sunday]

National Back to Church Sunday [3rd Sunday]

National Neighborhood Day [3rd Sunday]

National Women's Friendship Day [3rd Sunday]

Open Farm Day (Prince Edward Island, Canada) [3rd Sunday]

PEI Open Farm Day (Canada) [3rd Sunday]

Pig Face Sunday (Avening, UK) [3rd Sunday]

Serene Sunday [3rd Sunday of Each Month]

Seven For Sunday [Every Sunday]

Smörgåsbord Sunday [3rd Sunday of Each Month]

Story Sunday [3rd Sunday of Each Month]

Sundae Sunday [Every Sunday]

Sunday Funday [Every Sunday]

Swiss Federal Fast (Switzerland) [3rd Sunday]

Tolkein Week begins [Sunday in Week that includes 9.22]

Wife Appreciation Day [3rd Sunday]

World Peace Day [3rd Sunday]

Weekly Holidays beginning September 15 (3rd Full Week of September)

Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Week]

Balance Awareness Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

Build a Better Image Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

Child Passenger Safety Awareness Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

International Clean Hands Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

International Women’s E-Commerce Days (thru 9.21)

Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Adult Services Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Construction Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Week]

National Eczema Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Week]

National Farm Animals Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Week]

National Farm & Ranch Safety and Health Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Go-Kart Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Hispanic Heritage Weeks (thru 10.15)

National Historically Black Colleges & Universities Week (thru 9.21)

National Indoor Plant Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Keep Kids Creative Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Rehabilitation Awareness Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Security Officer Appreciation Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Singles Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Surgical Technologists Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Truck Driver Appreciation Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

Prostate Cancer Awareness Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Week]

Reye’s Syndrome Awareness Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Week]

Festivals Beginning September 15, 2024

Boston Local Food Festival (Boston, Massachusetts)

Dinner in the Meadow (Louisburg, North Carolina)

Farmington Fair (Farmington, Maine)

Little Flower Parade (Wommelgem, Belgium) [thru 9.21]

Peñafrancia Festival (Naga, Philippines)

Purple Foot Festival (Fairport, New York)

Sussex County Day (Augusta, New Jersey)

Triangle VegFest (Durham, North Carolina)

Feast Days

Agatha Christie (Writerism)

Aicard (a.k.a. Achart; Christian; Saint)

Alpinus (a.k.a. Albinus) of Lyon (Christian; Saint)

Aprus (a.k.a. Èvre or Aper) of Toul (Christian; Saint)

Aunt Melba's Guernsey Cotillion (Muppetism)

Cantlos (Celtic Book of Days)

Catherine of Genoa (Christian; Saint)

The Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Christian)

François de La Rochefoucauld (Writerism)

Gilles de Rais Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Goethe (Positivist; Saint)

Irish Coffee Day (Pastafarian)

James Chisholm (Episcopal Church)

Jesse Andrews (Writerism)

John the Dwarf (Christian; Saint)

Joseph Abibos (Christian; Saint)

Ksenia Milicevic (Artology)

Kshamavani (Forgiveness Day; Jainism)

Lucebert (Artology)

Saint Dominic in Soriano painting (Christian; Saint)

Mamilian of Palermo (Christian; Saint)

Martina Krupičková (Artology)

Media Aestas IX (Pagan)

Mirin (Christian; Saint)

Nicetas the Goth (Christian; Saint)

Nicomedes (Christian; Saint)

Our Lady of Aparecida Day (Cantabria, Spain)

Our Lady of Sorrows (Christian)

Really Bad Ideas Exhibition (Gremlins; Shamanism)

Roland de Medici (Christian; Saint)

Virgin Mary of the Seven Sorrows Day (Slovakia)

Islamic Lunar Holidays

The Prophet’s Birthday [Islam] (a.k.a. ...

Baravfat (India)

Birthday of Prophet Muhammed (Cameroon, Kuwait, Lebanon, Maldives, Palestine, Sierra Leone, UAE)

Eid Al-Maulid Anebi (Eritea)

Eid-El-Maulud (Nigeria)

Eid-e-Milad-un Nabi (Bangladesh)

Gamo (Gambia)

Gamou (Senegal)

Hari Maulad Nabi (Cocos or Keeling Islands)

Le Mouled (Tunisia)

Maoulida (Mayotte)

Maouloud (Guinea, Senegal)

Maouloud-Al-Nebi (Chad)

Maulid (Tanzania)

Maulid Nabi Muhammad SAW 1444 H (Indonesia)

Maulidur Rasul (Brunei)

Mawleed al-Nabi (Afghanistan)

Mawlid (Ethiopia)

Mawlid al-Nabi (Jordan)

Mawlid An Nabi (Syria)

Mawlid En Nabaoui Echarif (Algeria)

Mawlid Nabi (Somalia)

Mawloud (Mali)

Mawlud Nabi (Gambia)

Mavlid Al Nabi (Cyprus)

Milad Al Nabi (Oman)

Miladunnabi (Bahrain)

Milad-un-Nabi (India, Sri Lanka)

Moulad (Iraq)

Mouled Al Nabee (Libya)

Moulid Al Nabi (Sudan)

Moulid El Nabi (Egypt)

Mouloud (Comoros, Djibouti, Niger)

Rabi' al-Awwal (Yemen)

Youman Nabi (Guyana)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Alice the Jail Bird (Ub Iwerks Disney Cartoon; 1925)

Almost Famous (Film; 2000)

American Beauty (Film; 1999)

Beer League (Film; 2006)

Be Without You, by Mary J. Blige (Song; 2005)

The Big Picture (Film; 1989)

The Black Dahlia (Film; 2006)

Blood & Chocolate, by Elvis Costello (Album; 1986)

Blue Train, by John Coltrane (Album recorded; 1957)

The Book of Merlyn, by T.H. White (Novel; 1977) [Once and Future King #5]

Bugsy Malone (Film; 1976)

Calliou (Children’s Animated TV Series; 1997)

CHiPs (TV Series; 1977)

Davy Crockett Goes to Congress (Disney TV Film; 1963)

Escape from Freedom, by Erich Fromm (Philosophy Book; 1941)

Everyone’s Hero (Animated Film; 2006)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High, by Cameron Crowe (Novel; 1981)

The Fighting Kentuckian (Film; 1949)

The Green Hat, by Michael Arlen (Play; 1925)

Hackers (Film; 1995)

Hammerklavier, a.k.a. Piano Sonata No. 29 in Bb Major, by Ludwig Van Beethoven (Piano Sonata; 1819)

A Haunting in Venice (Film; 2023)

Hit Me with Your Best Shot, by Pat Benatar (Song; 1980)

How to Play Football (Disney Cartoon; 1944)

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, by Dale Carnegie (Self-Help Book; 1948)

The Invention of Morel, by Adolfo Bioy Casares (Novella; 1940)

I Spy (TV Series; 1965)

It, by Stephen King (Novel; 1986)

L.A. Law (TV Series; 1986)

The Lone Ranger (TV Series; 1949)

Lost in Space (TV Series; 1967)

Love Story, by Taylor Swift (Song; 2008)

The Malady Lingers On (George of the Jungle Cartoon; 1967) [#2]

Mechanical Animals, by Marilyn Manson (Album; 1998)

A Noun is a Person, Place, or Thing (Grammar Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1973)

One, Two, Three...Infinity: Facts and Speculations of Science, by George Gamow (Science Book; 1947)

The Pink Flea (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1971)

Pink Panzer (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1965)

Psst Pink (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1971)

Requiem in D Minor, by Anton Bruckner (Requiem; 1849)

The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, by Michael Moorcock (Novel; 1976) [Elric #2]

Saved by the Bell (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1950)

The Shadow Rising, by Robert Jordan (Novel; 1992) [Wheel of Time #4]

The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien (Novel; 1977)

The Singing Sap (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1930)

Some Time in New York City, by John Lennon and Yoko Ono (Album; 1972)

Sports, by Huey Lewis and the News (Album; 1983)

A Star is Bored (WB LT Cartoon; 1956)

The Sulli-Gully, by Ed Sullivan (Song; 1969)

The Sword in the Stone, by T.H. White (Novel; 1938) [Once and Future King #1]

Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (WB Animated Film; 2006)

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis (Novel; 1952) [The Chronicles of Narnia #3]

Today’s Name Days

Dolores, Melissa, Melitta (Austria)

Dolores, Marija, Tugomil (Croatia)

Jolana (Czech Republic)

Eskild (Denmark)

Kulmo, Kulno, Kurmo, Kuulo (Estonia)

Sirpa (Finland)

Dolores, Roland (France)

Dolores, Melissa, Melitta (Germany)

Nikitas, Visarion (Greece)

Enikő, Melitta (Hungary)

Mamiliano, Maria (Italy)

Gunvaldis, Nikodems, Sandra (Latvia)

Eugenija, Nikodemas, Rimgailė, Vismantas (Lithuania)

Aslak, Eskil (Norway)

Albin, Budzigniew, Maria, Nikodem (Poland)

Jolana (Slovakia)

Angustias, Dolores (Spain)

Sigrid, Siri (Sweden)

Mykyta (Ukraine)

Delora, Delores, Dolores, Lola, Lolita (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 259 of 2024; 107 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 7 of Week 37 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 15 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 13 (Ren-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 12 Elul 5784

Islamic: 11 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 19 Gold; Fryday [19 of 30]

Julian: 2 September 2024

Moon: 92%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 7 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Calderon]

Runic Half Month: Ken (Illumination) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 88 of 94)

Week: 3rd Full Week of September

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 25 of 32)

#calendar #Events

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brookstonalmanac · 2 months ago

Text

Holidays 9.15

Holidays

Aglaia Asteroid Day

Battle of Britain Day (UK)

Bocage Day (Portugal)

Born to Be Wild Day

Cantabria Day (Spain)

Capitol Hill Day

Carbon Day

Chestnut Day (French Republic)

Echo Asteroid Day

Eleven Days of Global Unity, Day 5: Health

Engineer's Day (India)

Felt Hat Day

Free Money Day

German American Heritage Month begins [until 10.15]

Google Awareness Day

Grand Magal de Touba (Senegal)

Greenpeace Day

Grito de Dolores (a.k.a. Cry of Dolores; Mexico)

Hunger Action Day

International Day of Democracy (UN)

International Dot Day

International Gotcha Day

International Hypothalamic Hamartoma Awareness Day

International Myotonic Dystrophy Awareness Day

International Sing Out Day

International Wiedemann-Steiner Syndrome Awareness Day

Knowledge Day (Azerbaijan)

LGBT Center Awareness Day

Libraries Day (Belarus)

Make A Hat Day

Moonpie Day (Republic of Molossia)

National Africa Civility Day

National Brain Health Day

National Caregivers Day

National Cozy Mystery Day

National Custom Framing Day

National Day of the Cowgirl

National 8-Track Tape Day [also 4.11]

National Felt Hat Day

National Hispanic Heritage Month begins [until 10.15]

National Hug Your Boss (UK)

National Malcolm Day

National Muslim Voter Registration Day

National Neonatal Nurses Day

National Online Learning Day

National Ruben Day

National Tackle Kids Cancer Day

National Thank You Day

915 Day

Nuestra Señora de la Bien Aparecida (Cantabria, Spain)

Oriana Fallaci Day

Pension Awareness Day (UK)

Restoration of Primorska to the Motherland Day (Slovenia)

Roberto Clemente Day

Silpa Buirasri Day (Thailand)

Social Workers’ Day (Moldova)

Someday

Tackle Kids Cancer Day

Thimphu Tshechu (Bhutan)

World Afro Day

World Chimamanda Day

World Engineers Day

World Lymphoma Awareness Day

Zombie in the Machine Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie Day

Chicken Lovers' Day

National Cheese Toast Day

National Creme de Menthe Day

National Day of Pozole (Mexico)

National Double Cheeseburger Day

National Linguine Day

Independence & Related Days

Costa Rica (from Spain, 1821)

Cry of Dolores (Mexico)

El Salvador (from Spain, 1821)

Guatemala (from Spain, 1821)

Honduras (from Spain, 1821)

Lutherania (Declared; 2006) [unrecognized]

Nicaragua (from Spain, 1821)

Occitania (Declared; 2015) [unrecognized]

Restoration of Primorska to the Motherland Day (Slovenia)

Russian Republic (Proclaimed; 1917)

3rd Sunday in September

Day of Wallonia (Belgium) [3rd Sunday]

Federal Day of Thanksgiving, Repentance and Prayer (Switzerland) [3rd Sunday]

Forestry and Timber Industry Worker’s Day [3rd Sunday]

International Day of Prayer & Action for Human Habitat [3rd Sunday]

Kaua’i Mokihana Festival begins (Hawaii) [3rd Sunday]

Mother’s Day (Kazakhstan) [3rd Sunday]

National ALS Awareness Day (Italy) [3rd Sunday]

National Back to Church Sunday [3rd Sunday]

National Neighborhood Day [3rd Sunday]

National Women's Friendship Day [3rd Sunday]

Open Farm Day (Prince Edward Island, Canada) [3rd Sunday]

PEI Open Farm Day (Canada) [3rd Sunday]

Pig Face Sunday (Avening, UK) [3rd Sunday]

Serene Sunday [3rd Sunday of Each Month]

Seven For Sunday [Every Sunday]

Smörgåsbord Sunday [3rd Sunday of Each Month]

Story Sunday [3rd Sunday of Each Month]

Sundae Sunday [Every Sunday]

Sunday Funday [Every Sunday]

Swiss Federal Fast (Switzerland) [3rd Sunday]

Tolkein Week begins [Sunday in Week that includes 9.22]

Wife Appreciation Day [3rd Sunday]

World Peace Day [3rd Sunday]

Weekly Holidays beginning September 15 (3rd Full Week of September)

Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Week]

Balance Awareness Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

Build a Better Image Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

Child Passenger Safety Awareness Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

International Clean Hands Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

International Women’s E-Commerce Days (thru 9.21)

Mitochondrial Disease Awareness Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Adult Services Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Construction Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Week]

National Eczema Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Week]

National Farm Animals Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Week]

National Farm & Ranch Safety and Health Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Go-Kart Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Hispanic Heritage Weeks (thru 10.15)

National Historically Black Colleges & Universities Week (thru 9.21)

National Indoor Plant Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Keep Kids Creative Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Rehabilitation Awareness Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Security Officer Appreciation Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Singles Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Surgical Technologists Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

National Truck Driver Appreciation Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Full Week]

Prostate Cancer Awareness Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Week]

Reye’s Syndrome Awareness Week (thru 9.21) [3rd Week]

Festivals Beginning September 15, 2024

Boston Local Food Festival (Boston, Massachusetts)

Dinner in the Meadow (Louisburg, North Carolina)

Farmington Fair (Farmington, Maine)

Little Flower Parade (Wommelgem, Belgium) [thru 9.21]

Peñafrancia Festival (Naga, Philippines)

Purple Foot Festival (Fairport, New York)

Sussex County Day (Augusta, New Jersey)

Triangle VegFest (Durham, North Carolina)

Feast Days

Agatha Christie (Writerism)

Aicard (a.k.a. Achart; Christian; Saint)

Alpinus (a.k.a. Albinus) of Lyon (Christian; Saint)

Aprus (a.k.a. Èvre or Aper) of Toul (Christian; Saint)

Aunt Melba's Guernsey Cotillion (Muppetism)

Cantlos (Celtic Book of Days)

Catherine of Genoa (Christian; Saint)

The Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Christian)

François de La Rochefoucauld (Writerism)

Gilles de Rais Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Goethe (Positivist; Saint)

Irish Coffee Day (Pastafarian)

James Chisholm (Episcopal Church)

Jesse Andrews (Writerism)

John the Dwarf (Christian; Saint)

Joseph Abibos (Christian; Saint)

Ksenia Milicevic (Artology)

Kshamavani (Forgiveness Day; Jainism)

Lucebert (Artology)

Rosh Hashanah (began yesterday at Sundown)

Saint Dominic in Soriano painting (Christian; Saint)

Mamilian of Palermo (Christian; Saint)

Martina Krupičková (Artology)

Media Aestas IX (Pagan)

Mirin (Christian; Saint)

Nicetas the Goth (Christian; Saint)

Nicomedes (Christian; Saint)

Our Lady of Aparecida Day (Cantabria, Spain)

Our Lady of Sorrows (Christian)

Really Bad Ideas Exhibition (Gremlins; Shamanism)

Roland de Medici (Christian; Saint)

Virgin Mary of the Seven Sorrows Day (Slovakia)

Islamic Lunar Holidays

The Prophet’s Birthday [Islam] (a.k.a. ...

Baravfat (India)

Birthday of Prophet Muhammed (Cameroon, Kuwait, Lebanon, Maldives, Palestine, Sierra Leone, UAE)

Eid Al-Maulid Anebi (Eritea)

Eid-El-Maulud (Nigeria)

Eid-e-Milad-un Nabi (Bangladesh)

Gamo (Gambia)

Gamou (Senegal)

Hari Maulad Nabi (Cocos or Keeling Islands)

Le Mouled (Tunisia)

Maoulida (Mayotte)

Maouloud (Guinea, Senegal)

Maouloud-Al-Nebi (Chad)

Maulid (Tanzania)

Maulid Nabi Muhammad SAW 1444 H (Indonesia)

Maulidur Rasul (Brunei)

Mawleed al-Nabi (Afghanistan)

Mawlid (Ethiopia)

Mawlid al-Nabi (Jordan)

Mawlid An Nabi (Syria)

Mawlid En Nabaoui Echarif (Algeria)

Mawlid Nabi (Somalia)

Mawloud (Mali)

Mawlud Nabi (Gambia)

Mavlid Al Nabi (Cyprus)

Milad Al Nabi (Oman)

Miladunnabi (Bahrain)

Milad-un-Nabi (India, Sri Lanka)

Moulad (Iraq)

Mouled Al Nabee (Libya)

Moulid Al Nabi (Sudan)

Moulid El Nabi (Egypt)

Mouloud (Comoros, Djibouti, Niger)

Rabi' al-Awwal (Yemen)

Youman Nabi (Guyana)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]

Premieres

Alice the Jail Bird (Ub Iwerks Disney Cartoon; 1925)

Almost Famous (Film; 2000)

American Beauty (Film; 1999)

Beer League (Film; 2006)

Be Without You, by Mary J. Blige (Song; 2005)

The Big Picture (Film; 1989)

The Black Dahlia (Film; 2006)

Blood & Chocolate, by Elvis Costello (Album; 1986)

Blue Train, by John Coltrane (Album recorded; 1957)

The Book of Merlyn, by T.H. White (Novel; 1977) [Once and Future King #5]

Bugsy Malone (Film; 1976)

Calliou (Children’s Animated TV Series; 1997)

CHiPs (TV Series; 1977)

Davy Crockett Goes to Congress (Disney TV Film; 1963)

Escape from Freedom, by Erich Fromm (Philosophy Book; 1941)

Everyone’s Hero (Animated Film; 2006)

Fast Times at Ridgemont High, by Cameron Crowe (Novel; 1981)

The Fighting Kentuckian (Film; 1949)

The Green Hat, by Michael Arlen (Play; 1925)

Hackers (Film; 1995)

Hammerklavier, a.k.a. Piano Sonata No. 29 in Bb Major, by Ludwig Van Beethoven (Piano Sonata; 1819)

A Haunting in Venice (Film; 2023)

Hit Me with Your Best Shot, by Pat Benatar (Song; 1980)

How to Play Football (Disney Cartoon; 1944)

How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, by Dale Carnegie (Self-Help Book; 1948)

The Invention of Morel, by Adolfo Bioy Casares (Novella; 1940)

I Spy (TV Series; 1965)

It, by Stephen King (Novel; 1986)

L.A. Law (TV Series; 1986)

The Lone Ranger (TV Series; 1949)

Lost in Space (TV Series; 1967)

Love Story, by Taylor Swift (Song; 2008)

The Malady Lingers On (George of the Jungle Cartoon; 1967) [#2]

Mechanical Animals, by Marilyn Manson (Album; 1998)

A Noun is a Person, Place, or Thing (Grammar Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1973)

One, Two, Three...Infinity: Facts and Speculations of Science, by George Gamow (Science Book; 1947)

The Pink Flea (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1971)

Pink Panzer (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1965)

Psst Pink (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1971)

Requiem in D Minor, by Anton Bruckner (Requiem; 1849)

The Sailor on the Seas of Fate, by Michael Moorcock (Novel; 1976) [Elric #2]

Saved by the Bell (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1950)

The Shadow Rising, by Robert Jordan (Novel; 1992) [Wheel of Time #4]

The Silmarillion, by J.R.R. Tolkien (Novel; 1977)

The Singing Sap (Oswald the Lucky Rabbit Cartoon; 1930)

Some Time in New York City, by John Lennon and Yoko Ono (Album; 1972)

Sports, by Huey Lewis and the News (Album; 1983)

A Star is Bored (WB LT Cartoon; 1956)

The Sulli-Gully, by Ed Sullivan (Song; 1969)

The Sword in the Stone, by T.H. White (Novel; 1938) [Once and Future King #1]

Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (WB Animated Film; 2006)

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C.S. Lewis (Novel; 1952) [The Chronicles of Narnia #3]

Today’s Name Days

Dolores, Melissa, Melitta (Austria)

Dolores, Marija, Tugomil (Croatia)

Jolana (Czech Republic)

Eskild (Denmark)

Kulmo, Kulno, Kurmo, Kuulo (Estonia)

Sirpa (Finland)

Dolores, Roland (France)

Dolores, Melissa, Melitta (Germany)

Nikitas, Visarion (Greece)

Enikő, Melitta (Hungary)

Mamiliano, Maria (Italy)

Gunvaldis, Nikodems, Sandra (Latvia)

Eugenija, Nikodemas, Rimgailė, Vismantas (Lithuania)

Aslak, Eskil (Norway)

Albin, Budzigniew, Maria, Nikodem (Poland)

Jolana (Slovakia)

Angustias, Dolores (Spain)

Sigrid, Siri (Sweden)

Mykyta (Ukraine)

Delora, Delores, Dolores, Lola, Lolita (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 259 of 2024; 107 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 7 of Week 37 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 15 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 13 (Ren-Wu)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 12 Elul 5784

Islamic: 11 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 19 Gold; Fryday [19 of 30]

Julian: 2 September 2024

Moon: 92%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 7 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Calderon]

Runic Half Month: Ken (Illumination) [Day 9 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 88 of 94)

Week: 3rd Full Week of September

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 25 of 32)

#Holidays

0 notes

mariacallous · 23 days ago

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It was a revelation that astounded the Irish parliament — and prompted suspicions, accusations, denials and calls for inquiries among members and observers.

The Sunday Times told last week how Russian intelligence had recruited a politician to act as an agent for the Kremlin during the Brexit talks and that, remarkably, they are still at large.

The bombshell reverberated all week with some parliamentarians getting to their feet to deny they were the agent nicknamed Cobalt. But while the question for the tearooms and the pubs was “who is Cobalt?”, the more important question is “what does Russia want with Ireland?”

“It shouldn’t come as any surprise to any of us that Russia seeks to influence public opinion, distort facts, and is active in relation to that across the world — and Ireland is not immune,” Simon Harris, the taoiseach, said.

“We have seen a significant increase in that level of activity since the brutal illegal invasion by Russia of Ukraine over the last number of years. The gardaí and our security services take all of this extremely seriously.”

Yet it was not always thus. Historically neutral, Ireland is now facing the stark realities of Russian espionage, underscoring a new heightened awareness of the threats posed by the Kremlin and the malign activities of its intelligence services.

Ireland has quietly evolved into a strategic hub for Russian intelligence operations. Its geopolitical position on the western periphery of Europe, neutral stance and open economy have made it an attractive base for Russian spies to engage in active measures or covert actions targeting the UK and the EU.

“Russia’s interest in Ireland is the same as that of many multinationals. It’s an English-speaking country that serves as a backdoor into Europe, with weaker regulatory frameworks, meaning it doesn’t take foreign threats seriously,” said Professor Neil Robinson, an expert on Russian and post-communist politics at the University of Limerick.

“Ireland always thought of itself as neutral, not entangled in many of the world’s problems. It didn’t really see itself as part of the Cold War,” he said. “So the Russians were effectively given a free pass by the Irish state, and they used Ireland as a conduit for agents, intelligence and strategic information from its position as a gateway for technology and companies into Europe.”

For Ireland’s under-resourced military and security agencies, the writing has been on the wall for years. Russia has become increasingly active in Ireland’s air, sea, land and cyber domains, much to its embarrassment.

Russian military Tupolev TU-160 Blackjack bombers and anti-submarine patrol aircraft have buzzed Irish airspace to see how quickly Nato responds, as Ireland lacks its own fighter jets. The first publicised incursions were in 2015 when Tu-95 bombers crisscrossed important civilian airline traffic lanes. In 2017 the RAF scrambled Typhoon combat aircraft from its Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) stations to respond to a sortie by Russian strategic bomber aircraft that skirted close to Irish sovereign airspace. A pair of high-profile incursions in 2020 involving six Russian aircraft prompted Ian Paisley Jr to raise the matter in the House of Commons.

Russian warships, submarines, and more recently ghost ships — disguised as research vessels and fishing trawlers — have become frequent visitors to Ireland’s exclusive maritime zones off the south and west coast.

Russian warships regularly converge in Irish-controlled waters, causing concern on both sides of the Atlantic. But more recent Russian tactics fall firmly into the realm of hybrid warfare, which involves everything short of firing a shot.

Russia regularly mounts influence and disinformation campaigns to sway public opinion across Ireland. Russian compatriot groups, supported by its Dublin embassy, organise anti-Ukrainian demonstrations on the streets of Dublin in conjunction with fringe republican groups. Footage of the protests are later broadcast on Russian TV as propaganda.

In April 2022 a convoy of cars waving Russian flags and marked with the pro-war Z symbol paraded down the M50 in Dublin, Ireland’s busiest motorway. The Ukrainian embassy slammed the “disgusting disrespect” against the “Irish people who stand against Russia’s war on Ukraine”.

Most worryingly, Russia has begun to foster connections with loyalist, republican and ultra-left groups in Ireland, further deepening concerns.

Last month the Russian embassy in Dublin hosted a deputation led by John Connolly, a convicted Real IRA bomber, who now leads the Truth and Neutrality Alliance, an ultra-left group which campaigns to defend Irish neutrality and resist entry into military alliances such as Nato. Connolly is a hardline dissident who was sentenced to 14 years in jail after being caught with a large “barrack buster” mortar bomb in Fermanagh in 2000. His Truth and Neutrality Alliance has participated in protests against the use of Shannon airport in Co Clare by the US air force, often waving Ukrainian separatist flags.

Russian services have exploited all these factors to use the country as a platform for mounting broader operations across Europe and beyond.

Russian agents have also been found living long-term double lives in Dublin. It is not known when Russia first began sending these deep cover agents — known in the intelligence world as legends — to Ireland to create false identities and background stories but cases have come to light.

One involved Sergey Vladimirovich Cherkasov, a Russian military intelligence officer who spent four years studying at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) using a false identity.

Cherkasov purported to be a Brazilian named Victor Muller Ferreira, when he studied political science at TCD between 2014 and 2018 before moving to the United States to undertake a master’s at Johns Hopkins University, where he specialised in American politics. He was unmasked as a spy as he attempted to take up a post at the International Criminal Court in the Hague in 2022.

Dublin is also used as a staging ground for Russian intelligence operations in the UK and Europe. As a neutral and accessible European capital, it provides a convenient base from which intelligence activities are coordinated and launched, targeting both Ireland and neighbouring countries including the UK. Much of this activity is directed from the federation’s embassy complex on Orwell Road, a half-finished eyesore in the suburbs of south Dublin.

A massive expansion of the complex was halted when the government introduced emergency legislation to stop the project in 2018 after The Sunday Times revealed how the Kremlin was using its diplomatic post in Dublin to run a network of spies in Europe.

An analysis of the architectural plans had revealed a self-contained structure, the tell-tale sign of a signals base used to transmit and intercept secret communications. The embassy was already being used to assess intelligence collected by Russian spies across Europe before its transmission to Moscow by cypher clerks in Dublin, all working under diplomatic cover.

“Russian spies have always been a problem in Dublin,” said Liam Smaul, a retired Special Branch detective who worked in counterintelligence and spent much of his career monitoring the embassy.

“They came here to enter the UK during the Cold War. It was made worse because, at one stage, Aeroflot used to fly into Shannon. They had means and ways of getting their people in Ireland. Counter-intelligence was never a priority for the garda or the military.”

Declan Power, a defence analyst, said Ireland’s inability to understand the threat made the problem worse.

“No one in the government ever asks where the threats are coming from. We don’t act well on intelligence as policymakers don’t have a good understanding of the threat environment and where the problems are coming from,” he said.

The nature and complexity of the Russian threat now facing Ireland cannot be overstated. The Irish military and the garda intelligence division know the SVR, Russia’s foreign intelligence service, and the GU, the military intelligence branch of the Russian armed forces, are both operating in Ireland. They also suspect the FSB, Russia’s principal security agency, is spying on multinationals based in Ireland, deploying vans full of equipment that can intercept private communications or planting agents inside the companies themselves. More recently, Ireland has been warned that Unit 29155, an elite GU unit that conducts sensitive foreign operations including assassinations and targeted attacks, might have members travelling through the Republic to enter Britain and France.

Of all the security and defence issues that could cause a problem for the government, the Russian threat to the undersea fibre optic cables that carry communication data and internet traffic between Europe to North America is top of the list. The geopolitical consequences if something were to happen are profound. Ireland has an important, often underappreciated, value as a central node in the network of communications cables that criss-cross the globe.

The first signs of Russian interest in the cables in Irish-controlled waters emerged in 2021 when Yantar, an intelligence collection ship, arrived unexpectedly off the northwest coast and began searching the area in a zigzag fashion, suggesting it was mapping the seafloor. The vessel belongs to Russia’s directorate of underwater research, which is part of the defence ministry. It is also capable of mounting underwater sabotage operations using submersibles. This is why Nato continually monitors its movements to assess if it is targeting European or American subsea communications infrastructure. GU agents have also been observed mapping the landing points of subsea cables that come ashore on the west coast, presumably should they ever want to damage them.

The revelation of Cobalt’s existence comes as Ireland swiftly enhances its defence capabilities and further aligns itself with European security frameworks — steps likely to attract the ire of Putin’s Russia. The department of foreign affairs in Dublin has already cut Russian diplomats in the capital from 30 to just five. Dublin has also boosted its defence budget, investing in maritime patrol aircraft, naval vessels, a new primary radar system and missile defence. Last week’s disclosures are expected to drive even more substantial actions.

Keir Giles, a Russian expert at Chatham House, the international affairs think tank, said: “Russia has always found it easier to operate in environments where it was not viewed as a threat.” Ireland, he continued, has now realised that neutrality provides no safeguard against a determined aggressor.

Giles expects Russia to remain a persistent threat in Ireland but foresees a shift towards using proxies to pursue its goals.

This type of action can include organising anti-Ukrainian protests and fomenting opposition to initiatives such as Brexit. By influencing, at times unwitting, factions to campaign against issues such as a border on the Irish Sea or land post-Brexit, Russian actors can cause maximum disruption behind the scenes, but with no attributable blame.

“Russia has demonstrated that it can extend its influence through various means, including organised crime, disaffected individuals and other proxies,” Giles said. “These agents are capable of carrying out espionage, spreading disinformation, and even executing acts of sabotage and arson across Europe. Ireland may yet face similar hybrid threats.”

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thoughtlessarse · 7 months ago

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Surviving victims and relatives of those who died as a result of receiving infected blood and blood products from the NHS in the 1970s and 80s will gather in a few weeks at the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster. After six years of taking evidence, Sir Brian Langstaff’s public inquiry will finally unveil its report there on 20 May. There is no doubt that what occurred was a tragedy and scandal, indeed one of the very worst in this country’s history. Thousands were killed, including children, after being infected with HIV and hepatitis. Many more lives were ruined. And there has been no shortage of apologies in recent years. As the then prime minister, David Cameron, told the House of Commons in 2015: “To each and every one of these people I would like to say sorry on behalf of the government for something that should not have happened.” But for all the apologies, there has been a distinct lack of candour about quite what the government is apologising for – and who should take the blame. […] They had been given a blood-clotting product known as Factor VIII – but a cheap version of it. Much of the blood had been imported from US prisons, and taken from high-risk donors such as sex workers, drug addicts and alcoholics who were paid. That decision was not inevitable. There were other options. As reported on Sunday, one of the suppliers, Immuno IG, recognised that there was a “significantly higher hepatitis risk” from a Factor VIII product known as Kryobulin 2, made from US plasma compared to its original product, Kryobulin 1, sourced from unpaid donors in Austria and Germany. The pharmaceutical company had concluded that “the British market will accept a higher risk of hepatitis for a lower-priced product”. In 1975, the then health secretary, David Owen, promised Britain would become self-sufficient in blood products to ensure vulnerable patients were put at minimal risk. But a different path was taken. Owen moved on to be foreign secretary, and in 1979 the Conservatives took power and the investment was not made. The government continued into the mid-80s to buy blood from prisons in Arkansas, despite the fact that the US Food and Drug Administration had banned its sale in the US in 1983.

read complete article

We know who's to blame. It's pretty obvious; the Tories with Thatcher's austerity.

#uk #infected blood scandal #tainted factor VIII #immuno ig #tory austerity #capitalism

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newstfionline · 8 months ago

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Sunday, February 25, 2024

At the Florida Man Games, tank-topped teams compete at evading police and wrestling over beer (AP) They rose up by the dozens from across Florida, caricatured competitors in tank tops and cutoff shorts, for a showdown that treats evading police and wrestling over beer like Olympic sports. Promoted as “the most insane athletic showdown on Earth,” the Florida Man Games poke fun at the state’s reputation for bizarre stories that involve brawling, drinking, gunfire, reptile wrangling and other antics carrying a risk of time in jail or intensive care. Several thousand people paid real money to come cheer a dozen teams at the debut event set for Saturday in St. Augustine, with contests and sideshows inspired by real events from America’s most surreal state. Events involve contenders wrestling sumo-style while holding pitchers of beer, or running from actual sheriff’s deputies while jumping fences and avoiding obstacles. Some signed up to duel with pool noodles over a mud-filled pool, while others faced a scramble to grab cash flying in simulated hurricane winds.

The next generation of influencers are here. And they’re less than 10 years old. (NBC News) Koti and Haven Garza have half a mouthful of baby teeth and can hardly pronounce the word “influencer.” But the 7-year-old twins are already sharing their skin care routines and fit checks to 4.8 million followers on TikTok. “Get ready with me to go out to dinner,” Haven Garza says to the camera in a TikTok video that has amassed 2.6 million views. The “Garza Crew” first went viral on TikTok in 2020. In about a week, the family’s first-ever video had racked up more than 100,000 views, and the then-toddlers were on their way to internet fame. The sibling duo are part of a new wave of Gen Alpha influencers—creators born between 2010 and 2024—who are building followings online for videos posted on their parent-run accounts.

Colombia will send deep-water expedition to explore 300-year-old shipwreck thought to hold treasure (AP) Colombia’s government announced plans Friday for a deep-water expedition to explore the mythical galleon San José, sunk in the 18th century in the country’s northern Caribbean and believed to contain cargo valued at billions of dollars. The first phase of the scientific research into the deep waters around the shipwreck will collect information to determine which pieces are suitable and possible to extract. The wreckage is 600 meters (almost 2,000 feet) deep in the sea. Colombia located the galleon in 2015 but it has since been mired in legal and diplomatic disputes, and its exact location is a state secret. The ship is believed to hold 11 million gold and silver coins, emeralds and other precious cargo from Spanish-controlled colonies, which could be worth billions of dollars if ever recovered.

WWII-era bomb safely detonated at sea after one of the largest peacetime evacuations in UK history (AP) A World War II-era bomb whose discovery prompted one of the largest peacetime evacuations in British history has been detonated at sea, the Ministry of Defense said on Saturday. The 500-kilogram (1,100-pound) explosive was discovered Tuesday in the backyard of a home in Plymouth, a port city on the southwestern coast of Britain. More than 10,000 residents were evacuated to ensure their safety as a military convoy transported the unexploded bomb through a densely populated residential area to a ferry slipway, from which it was taken out to sea. Plymouth, home to major naval bases for centuries, was one of the most heavily bombed cities in Britain during World War II.

Huge apartment block fire in Spain kills nine people (Guardian) Spanish police have said the final death toll from a devastating fire that tore through a 14-storey block of flats in the eastern city of Valencia is nine, with one person thought to have died now considered missing and all others accounted for. Experts said the block was covered with highly flammable cladding, possibly—along with high winds—accounting for the rapid spread of the fire, which broke out on the fourth floor at 5.30pm on Thursday and engulfed the building within 30 minutes. In dramatic scenes broadcast live on TV on Thursday night, firefighters used a crane to lift a father and his daughter from a balcony where they were trapped, and a man was seen jumping several floors on to an inflatable mat to escape the flames. About 100 soldiers from Spain’s military emergency unit and 40 firefighting vehicles were deployed to the scene, where crews used drones to search the building for bodies and survivors once the flames’ initial ferocity had subsided.

Unpredictable Strongman? Two Years Into War, Putin Embraces the Image. (NYT) After President Biden called President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia a “crazy S.O.B.” this week, the Kremlin was quick to issue a stern condemnation. But the image of an unpredictable strongman ready to escalate his conflict with the West is one that Mr. Putin has fully embraced after two years of full-scale war. At home, the Kremlin is maintaining the mystery over the circumstances of the death last week of Aleksei A. Navalny, preventing the opposition leader’s family from reclaiming his body. In Ukraine, Mr. Putin is pressing his army to maintain its brutal offensive, boasting on television that he stayed up all night as the city of Avdiivka fell to Russian forces. And in outer space, American officials warn, Russia may be planning to place a nuclear weapon into orbit, aboard a satellite, which would violate one of the last arms control treaties. In power since 1999, Mr. Putin, 71, is set to extend his rule to 2030 in Russia’s rubber-stamp elections next month. As the vote nears, he is feeding his conception of himself as a history-making leader carrying on the legacy of past rulers who were willing to sacrifice untold numbers of lives to build a stronger Russian state.

Land mines return to Europe as front-line states fear Russian invasion (Washington Post) With former president Donald Trump encouraging Russia to attack NATO territory and U.S. support for Ukraine flagging, some of the nations that border Russia are looking for ways to harden their defenses, considering land mines and other technologies from ancient wars in a bid to blunt a Kremlin attack. Two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, countries such as the Baltic states and Finland warn that a threat to their own territory may be just over the horizon, with some intelligence agencies saying the Kremlin could make such an attempt within a decade. Now they are taking lessons from their enemy’s robust defense lines in Ukraine, noting that Russia’s system of minefields, concertina wire and trenches made it all but impossible for Kyiv’s forces to advance last summer. European states are still clamoring for F-35 fighter jets and space-age weapons, but the renewed interest and investment in century-old tactics is the latest example of how Russia’s war in Ukraine is upending long-held assumptions about how to defend NATO territory, with a revived focus on stopping tanks and mobile artillery.

Many in Myanmar consider fleeing to Thailand to escape conscription into an army they despise (AP) Thwel, a 25-year-old schoolteacher, saw very few options left to her after Myanmar’s military announced it is implementing conscription to fill its ranks. “As a person living in this country, I only have two options: to go abroad illegally or die here,” Thwel told The Associated Press by phone while traveling to a border area to try crossing into Thailand with a small group of like-minded people. Some observers believe a mass exodus of young talent is taking place and could become a social problem, with their exit heightening the instability that followed the military takeover that now amounts to a civil war. According to the Thai Foreign Ministry, some 7,000 Myanmar nationals have applied for visas, Thailand’s Bangkok Post newspaper reported Thursday.

China says it aims to ‘contain’ foreign interference over Taiwan this year (Reuters) China aims to “contain” foreign interference over Taiwan and “resolutely combat” any efforts towards the island’s formal independence this year, which is the sensitive 75th anniversary of the founding of communist China, state media said on Friday. China views democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory, ignoring the objections of the government in Taipei, and has ramped up political and military pressure to assert those claims. Taiwan last month elected current Vice President Lai Ching-te as its next president, a man Beijing has called a dangerous separatist. Lai, who takes office in May, has repeatedly offered talks with China but has been rebuffed. China’s official Xinhua news agency said the ruling Communist Party’s fourth-ranked leader, Wang Huning, held a two-day meeting on this year’s Taiwan-related work which ended on Friday. China “must resolutely combat the division of Taiwan independence, contain interference from external forces, firmly support the patriotic and reunification forces on the island, unite Taiwan compatriots, and maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait”, Xinhua cited Wang as saying.

As Gaza War Grinds On, Israel Prepares for a Prolonged Conflict (NYT) As the war in Gaza rages on, the situation in the battered enclave is one of devastation and despair. More than 29,000 people have been killed, according to Gaza health officials, the majority in a relentless Israeli bombing campaign. Neighborhoods have been flattened, families wiped out, children orphaned, and an estimated 1.7 million people displaced. While global scrutiny grows over Israel’s conduct in the war, the Israeli military, by its assessment, has delivered a major blow to the capabilities of Hamas, killing commanders, destroying tunnels and confiscating weapons. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s goal of destroying Hamas remains elusive, according to current and former Israeli security officials. An Israeli military intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity under military protocol, said that Israel was engaged in a comprehensive mission to unravel Hamas’s military capabilities. “Is it possible this mission will be left for my children?” he said. “The answer is yes.”

U.N. experts urge embargo on Israel for arms that would be used in Gaza (Washington Post) More than two dozen U.N. rights experts on Friday urged countries to halt the export to Israel of arms that would be used in Gaza, saying such transfers of weapons and ammunition could violate international humanitarian law. In a statement, the experts—who are part of the “special procedures” of the Human Rights Council, a body of independent experts in the U.N. system—said the need for an “arms embargo on Israel is heightened by the International Court of Justice’s [preliminary] ruling on 26 January 2024 that there is a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza and the continuing serious harm to civilians since then.” Francesca Albanese, U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories and one of the signatories to the statement, said on social media that sending weapons to Israel that may be used in Gaza “may amount to complicity in atrocity crimes.”

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