#rifts coalition

[legionofmyth]

Player Tips & Tricks: Magic / Psychic O.C.C. Skill Selection in Rifts RPG

🎲 Unlock the secrets of Practitioner of Magic and Psychic (Mystic) character O.C.C. skill selection in the Rifts TTRPG by Palladium Books. #RiftsRPG #PalladiumBooks #Rifts #PostApocalyptic #ScienceFiction #TTRPG

Rifts Ultimate Edition Rifts First Edition Master the art of Practitioner of Magic and Psychic (Mystic) character O.C.C. skill selection in the Rifts RPG with expert player tips & tricks. Unlock the secrets of character creation in this renowned tabletop game by Palladium Books. Step into a world where imagination knows no bounds, where infinite possibilities await at every turn. Rifts, the…

[haaaaaaaaaaaave-you-met-ted]

Rifts Coalition Wars Book 3: Sorcerers' Revenge Cover Art by Dave Dorman

[homebrew-rifts]

Coalition IAR-2 Abolisher Robot

Originally released on p. 35 of Rifts Sourcebook 1

The Abolisher, Infantry Assault Robot (IAR-2), is another giant vehicle that is part of the Coalition States' military forces. Unlike the UAR-1 Enforcer, which is designed specifically to combat ground troops in an urban/city environment, the Abolisher is a frontline infantry unit with long-range capabilities and heavy firepower for obliterating enemy troops. The focus of its armaments is anti-robot and anti-tank, hence the six heavy cannons bristling around what appears to be the head. The rim of cannons has given the 30 foot (9 m) robot the nickname 'Thorn Head."

The heavily armored bot is a massive, humanoid shaped, all terrain assault vehicle designed to withstand heavy bombardment. However, in keeping with the frightening Death's Head motif, the Abolisher is designed to look like a massive skull with arms and legs. The two eyes are infra-red and conventional light searchlights for night assaults. The upper skull body can rotate 360 degrees and is operated by a five-man crew. Two soldiers are gunners operating three cannons each, the pilot and the copilot/communications engineer (either the pilot or copilot can fire the small, forward facing, dual laser turret) and the top hatch gunner, usually a SAMAS.

The big guns are devastating weapons that can blast an enemy from all sides simultaneously. The robot's arms and hands are powerful and lethal in hand to hand confrontations (can rotate 180 degrees at the shoulders). On top of the behemoth is a Gunner's Hatch which allows a SAMAS or soldier to perch himself on the head and fire at the enemy from the top of the robot. An inner hatch locks automatically, preventing the enemy from easy access should the top gunner be killed; the inner hatch can only be opened by one of the pilots.

The only real disadvantage to the 30 foot (9 m) giant is that its incredible weight and large size reduce its speed and maneuvering capabilities. Although great in the field as an outer perimeter defense or as an infantry assault unit (tank with arms and legs), its speed and size make it an easy target (hence the heavy armor). Unless one wishes to destroy a city, the bot is not well suited for city conflicts. Its weapons are too powerful for use in the city, able to demolish an S.D.C. skyscraper in mere moments, and its size and bulk makes maneuvering through narrow streets difficult. Still, it is excellent for city defense, being able to be placed wherever needed, and ideal for infantry combat.

IAR-2 Abolisher: Size 9 (Huge), Crew 5+2, Strength d12+10, Toughness 60 (36), Pace 14+d10 (70 MPH)

Notes: MDC Armor, Shoulder STS-Cluster -4 to hit and 24 Hardness.

Weapons:

6 x C-144 Auto-Cannons (Spaced 360 degrees around the crown of the bot; Range 100/200/400, 5d12+5 Mega Damage, AP 12, RoF 1)

Anti-Personnel Lasers (belly gun)

Black Market Cost: 80 Million credits, Rarity -4

[xccentriktigress]

"Ah, my friend - you're a gentleman, and a scholar, and a fine judge of scantily-clad women."

Darren to Brian, RIFTS: Sonic Boom - Chapter 3

[waytootiredstudent]

Okay alright sorry for all the sudden German politics influx but lemme explain what happened so far and why Germans are losing it a bit:

The tldr? Our government is getting a divorce and it's turning messy with elections being called early and now being called even earlier.

The longer version?

Okay so, groundwork first:

in Germany there is a coalition currently in power called the Ampel(traffic lights) bc the colours of the party are red, yellow and green (or not anymore or for much longer??). They're centrist slightly more left leaning than right leaning. (You could argue about that I am aware). There has been infighting for as long as this coalition has been going on. It is also the first three party coalition since y know, the Last Time.

So. Enough groundwork. The yellow party (FDP) has a finance minister (Christiane Lindner) it's this guy

You will see him in memes I am sure. We don't like him. He's an asshole and has blocked every meaningful change that the coalition had been trying to accomplish. He also got his finance plan blocked by our highest court because parts were against our Constitution.

(.... I am oversimplifying hard here it's actually more complicated than that and not fully his fault, but it's also not the focus)

What WAS the fault though of him and the FDP was that they had a strong position of "saving money at all costs" which made bigger and bigger rifts with the two other coalition partners who were more leaftleaning. The war in Ukraine, Infrastructure, climate change - there were many places that needed more money and Lidner was like naaahhhhh for no fucking reason other than "oh we need to save money!!"

Long story short there have been arguing all the fucking time and therefore have started to lose approval. Drastically lose approval. As on for the first time since the Last Time there is a far right party in charge for part of the country that is also being investigated for being Nazis. (Oversimplifying again).

Which is. Worrying. You know. Especially with Trump now being elected. It has us all a little skittish.

The finance minister has also now been fired.

You see. We were all still trying to stomach Trump winning the US election, when Scholz, in the same fucking evening, fired Lindner.

And not in a polite way. Nah. Olaf fucking Scholz our Chancellor, notorious for saying literally nothing, and with a running joke that he regularly stops existing bc that man Does Not Take Stances, a spine of wet cardboard, delivered this yesterday evening:

(English subtitles by me you already got this far watch it I spent too much time on this lol)

And it is insane alright. For his standards and German politic standards thats the equivalent of calling Lindner a egomaniacal bitch that has only his self interest at heart and can not be trusted.

Lindner and his party have been pulverised in all recent elections. Which means that after he was fired, the FDP completely withdrew from the coalition and all minister from the FDP resigned.

....well all but one who apparently stayed in his positions because he's leaving the FDP over this. What sort of shitty backstabbing kindergarten fight is this. (Jokes aside hes the minister of transportation and says he needs to stay in office in important projects. Which. True. Having minister resigning en mass is not good)

Alright cool cool cool cool. Current situation yesterday is the following:

So. Trump is president. Fuck.

Lindner got fired! Yaaay!

Wait my goverment is now also falling apart! Fuck.

Which all lead to new elections being called in Germany.

Mind you, that's not usual ok. I know other countries have systems where they can call an election whenever but that is not a thing that normally happens here. We have a schedule alright. (Insert obligatory "Germans and their plans and structure" joke)

So new elections are called for spring, nearly a year early. Cool cool cool. With a right wing rising in Germany and deeply unpopular current leadership. On the eve of motherfucking trump getting elected.

Habeck, leader of the green party and one of the few policians in germany I think is vaguely liked by ppl (the general attitude in German politics is less "I like this guy" and more "you are the least shitty choice I guess") has appearently also nearly started crying after the news broke. So. Yeah.

Now. Let's make this shitshow complete,alright?

There is this party. CDU. They had been in charge for a very long time in Germany. Centrist, right leaning, with the afd on the rising even more right leaning than before. Their current leader is Friedrich Merz, as unpleasant as human beings can go.

He has now called for the new election to be not in a few months but like. To be called next week.

In the current climate.

So yeah. if you're German mutuals and friends are currently going through their own stages of grief - this is why.

[lasseling]

The German Government COLLAPSED Just Hours After Trump’s Victory

It’s not a good week for the establishment.

Just hours after Kamala Harris – and the Democrats – staggering loss which ushered in Trump as president for the third time and gave Republicans a sweep of Congress, Germany’s three-party ruling coalition which had been on the verge of collapse for months, imploded on Wednesday evening after Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced he will fire Finance Minister Christian Lindner over persistent rifts on spending and economic reforms

[askvectorprime]

Dear Vector Prime, Have you ever been to the DW Universe? If yes, may I ask if you’ve know about or encounter with Stunticons and Aerialbots when they’re young? I’m just wondering where they came from and what they were doing before the war. Because they’ve been existed for a long time compared to G1 cartoon and G1 Marvel Universe. Thank you for your answer!

Dear Curtailed Combiner,

After the Crisis Intervention Accords were ratified by all major factions on Cybertron, all Special Teams were forbidden to combine, lest the planet be destroyed in the ensuing carnage. This caused a rift among the Aerialbots; Air Raid, Fireflight, and Slingshot felt they had a right to combine. Silverbolt expressly disagreed with this, and so the other three called him a coward who was afraid of his own power, even his own ability to fly! They abandoned Silverbolt, and Skydive sadly joined them at Silverbolt's urging to serve as a voice of reason.

The Stunticons instead sought to sell Menasor at a premium—violating the Crisis Intervention Accords was a challenge for them, not a deterrent. Claiming they were on Starscream's Predacon faction, they combined into Menasor and overwhelmed Grimlock's Lightning Strike Coalition. As things became dire for Grimlock's team, their savior arrived—Superion!

Their battle was brief, but cataclysmic, and although they emerged victorious, the other Aerialbots realized Silverbolt’s hesitation was not cowardice, but wisdom.

After Menasor was defeated, Motormaster and Dead End escaped—formally joining Starscream’s team for protection against the other factions—while the other three Stunticons were captured and imprisoned. Silverbolt knew that he had performed an illegal combination, but for the right reasons, and despite the thanks from the Autobots and the L.S.C., the Aerialbots exiled themselves from Cybertron as per the Accords.

Much later, when Optimus Prime prepared to flee Cybertron with a group of Autobots, he granted a reprieve to the Aerialbots, who joined him and eventually ended up on Earth.

[mariacallous]

Washington CNN  — Rifts between the United States and Israel spilled into public view Tuesday as President Joe Biden warned that Israel was losing international support for its campaign against Hamas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly rejected American plans for post-war Gaza.

The divides, which until now had mostly been contained behind the scenes, reflected growing differences between the two staunch allies as the civilian death toll in Gaza mounts.

Speaking to Democratic donors in Washington, Biden voiced criticism of Israel’s hardline government and said Netanyahu needed to alter his approach.

“I think he has to change, and with this government, this government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move,” Biden said, calling Netanyahu’s government the “most conservative government in Israel’s history.”

He warned support for the country’s military campaign is waning amid heavy bombardment of Gaza and added that the Israeli government “doesn’t want a two-state solution.”

Speaking ahead of Biden’s comments at the fundraiser, Netanyahu admitted Tuesday that he and the US president disagree on what should happen to Gaza after the war. In a statement, the Israeli leader said: “Yes, there is disagreement about ‘the day after Hamas’ and I hope that we will reach agreement here as well.”

The pair of remarks amounted to some of the most candid to date when it comes to the persistent differences between Israel and the United States, its top international ally.

Before the war broke out following Hamas’ terror attacks on October 7, Biden had been open in his criticism of Netanyahu’s governing coalition, which includes far-right parties. But he has mostly stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Netanyahu in public since the conflict began, despite mounting criticism of the Israeli campaign.

Netanyahu has been asked repeatedly for his vision for a post-war Gaza in interviews with international media since October 7, telling CNN’s Dana Bash in an interview last month that he did see a role for “some kind of civilian Palestinian authority,” albeit one that had been “reconstructed.”

But in his statement Tuesday before Biden’s remarks at the Democratic fundraiser, Netanyahu said: “I would like to clarify my position: I will not allow Israel to repeat the mistake of Oslo.”

Biden’s comments Tuesday – in particular, that the current Israeli government “does not want a two-state solution” — suggest major differences with his Israeli counterpart.

That idea – of a Palestinian state existing alongside the state of Israel – took off in the 1990s, with a series of agreements known as the Oslo Accords, which created, among other things, the Palestinian Authority (PA), which assumed partial control over the West Bank and Gaza.

The PA was effectively driven out of Gaza by Hamas in 2007 but the Biden administration has made increasingly clear it believes the PA should resume governance of the enclave when the war is over.

“After the great sacrifice of our civilians and our soldiers, I will not allow the entry into Gaza of those who educate for terrorism, support terrorism and finance terrorism,” Netanyahu said.

“Gaza will be neither Hamastan nor Fatahstan,” Netanyahu’s statement concluded, a reference not just to Hamas but also to Fatah, the largest Palestinian faction, which was instrumental in the signing of the Oslo Accords, and continues to control the Palestinian Authority three decades later.

Israel began its assault on Gaza shortly after Hamas’ terror attacks, which left more than 1,200 people dead. Biden has said Israel has a right and a responsibility to defend itself.

In phone calls, however, Biden has encouraged Netanyahu to do more to avoid civilian casualties in Gaza, and top administration officials have said there is a “gap” between Israel’s intentions and the realities on the ground.

Speaking Monday evening at a White House Hanukkah reception, Biden acknowledged Israel was in “a tough spot” following the Hamas attack on October 7 and the subsequent war in Gaza. And he alluded to differences with Netanyahu amid the current fighting.

“We’ll continue to provide military assistance to Israel until they get rid of Hamas, but we have to be careful – they have to be careful,” Biden said. “The whole world’s public opinion can shift overnight, we can’t let that happen.”

Biden and Netanyahu have a decades-long relationship that has at times been strained. At the Monday evening reception, Biden said he once gifted Netanyahu a photo and wrote at the top: “I love you but I don’t agree with a damn thing you had to say.”

“It’s about the same today,” Biden said, adding he’d “had my differences with some Israeli leadership.”

Biden administration officials have been pressing their Israeli counterparts in recent weeks to begin planning for what happens in Gaza once the military campaign ends, including insisting on keeping the door open for an eventual Palestinian state.

The US says it would reject any proposal that includes Israeli control over Gaza and has warned against shrinking the Palestinian territory’s boundaries.

The US is also pressuring Israel to open the Kerem Shalom border crossing to allow humanitarian aid trucks to go directly into Gaza on an emergency basis, US officials told CNN.

The Israeli government on Tuesday allowed aid trucks to be inspected at Kerem Shalom for the first time since Hamas’s attack on October 7, but those trucks must still drive back through Egypt before entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing. While the move doubles Israel’s capacity to inspect aid trucks, it does not resolve the bottleneck that is emerging at the Rafah crossing.

Biden raised the issue directly with Netanyahu during their last call last week, the US officials said. National security adviser Jake Sullivan also urged his Israeli counterparts to open up the Israel-Gaza crossing before he arrives in Israel for meetings on Thursday, the officials said.

“Rafah cannot absorb a sufficient amount of aid to meet the needs of the Palestinian people which are only growing as there have been more people displaced,” Sullivan told CNN in a phone interview Tuesday.

“We need the capacity that Kerem Shalom provides – on an emergency basis – to get more food, water, medicine and essentials in to be distributed to Palestinian civilians and we’re putting that quite urgently to the Israeli government to say, ‘We are asking you to do this ASAP because of the nature of the humanitarian situation on the ground,’” he added.

A spokeswoman for the Israeli prime minister’s office declined to comment on the US move. Israel has so far resisted the idea. It cut off all commercial and humanitarian aid traffic from Israel into Gaza since Hamas launched its surprise terrorist attack on October 7 and has vowed to sever all ties with Gaza.

[good-old-gossip]

In the wake of over a year of relentless conflict, Sudanese grassroots movements are mobilising for self-defence against the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been clashing with the Sudanese army since hostilities erupted between the former allies in April of last year.

As the conflict edges closer to full-scale civil war, international efforts to contain the violence have largely failed, leaving civilians to fend for themselves.

The rise of self-defence initiatives has been fuelled by the RSF's brutal actions across the country and the perceived inability or unwillingness of the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) to protect civilians.

Although SAF chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has called for an "armed popular resistance" under the SAF's command, the current wave of grassroots mobilisation is notably independent, with many expressing distrust in the SAF’s capacity to safeguard them.

However, critics warn that arming civilians could rapidly escalate the conflict into a full-blown civil war, particularly given the pervasive hate speech, tribal populism and ethnic rhetoric already inflaming tensions.

Sudanese analyst Salah Adoma, for example, downplayed the significance of the self-defence efforts, cautioning that they could worsen the situation and expand the war.

He warned that such resistance could open the door for remnants of the old regime and Islamists to exploit the populism and regain power.

"Many of these calls for self-defence are coming from associates of the old regime or individuals who have been brainwashed. It would be better for all of us to pursue dialogue and peace negotiations to end this conflict," Adoma told Middle East Eye.

Self-defence efforts have emerged across several regions, including el-Fasher in North Darfur, al-Dalang in South Kordofan, el-Obeid in North Kordofan, Babanusa in West Kordofan and central Sudan, including el-Gezira.

These movements reflect a growing determination among communities to protect themselves, independent of SAF's command.

A prominent member of the Darfur rebel coalition, the Joint Forces, which fights alongside the SAF in el-Fasher, noted that most locals who have taken up arms are not aligned with the army.

"The majority of those joining the fight against the RSF are doing so to protect themselves, their families and the city. Their primary enemy is the RSF and they are organising independently," said the source, who requested anonymity for security reasons. He added, "The people of al-Fasher have been under siege and subjected to intense RSF attacks for more than two months now, but they remain steadfast under our popular resistance slogan ‘el-Fasher is strong'."

Political analyst Magdi el-Gizouli argued that self-defence is a natural and necessary response to ongoing RSF attacks.

"Villagers in el-Gezira, Sennar and Kordofan are under daily assault by RSF or RSF-affiliated militias. It’s only reasonable that they arm themselves by whatever means available," Gizouli, a fellow at the Rift Valley Institute, told MEE.

"This is a raging civil war, and people are being drawn into the conflict not by choice but out of necessity." Gizouli acknowledged the concerns surrounding the spread of arms but argued that these fears are somewhat misplaced given that the country is already flooded with weapons.

"In practical terms, these recruits function as self-defence units in their villages and towns, defending against RSF attacks. They are not the Popular Defence Forces of the 1990s.

They lack a central command and do not share the same ideology or creed," he added. In South Kordofan's al-Dalang city, a newly formed group called the Organisation of Nuba People Unity successfully repelled RSF forces.

This group, made up of thousands from the Nuba community, includes soldiers affiliated with both the SAF and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) under Abdelaziz al-Hilu, as well as ordinary citizens who have taken up arms.

"The fight against the RSF began in al-Dalang this year and has since spread to other areas, including Rashad, al-Abbasiya and Tagali," said a source within the group, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"We will continue to fight the RSF and expel them from our lands. While we are open to support from SAF or SPLA, we are prepared to defend our state on our own. We are the majority, and we will not relinquish our land to the Janjaweed [Popular Defence Forces]," he said, referring to the notorious militia responsible for widespread atrocities in Darfur two decades ago.

Thousands of Sudanese citizens have mobilised into what are known as Popular Defence Units under SAF command to protect themselves from ongoing attacks by the RSF.

The concept of self-defence gained traction in el-Geneina, West Darfur, last year and has since spread to al-Dalang and el-Obeid in South and North Kordofan and is now reaching new areas in central Sudan.

While it is common for people in Sudan's peripheral regions to bear arms due to a history of civil wars, this is the first time in recent history that residents of central Sudan have taken up weapons in self-defence.

The violence, which began in el-Gezira state in the west in December last year, has spread to Sennar, White Nile, Blue Nile and North Kordofan. In response to RSF claims of surrounding Sennar, White Nile and Blue Nile states, a popular coalition known as The Middle Call has formed, branding their mission as "suicidal".

According to its manifesto, the group aims to expel the RSF, accusing them of land grabbing and displacing local populations. "Our call is for a popular confrontation against the war waged by Janjaweed militias against the Sudanese people.

We are committed to defending the people of central Sudan, organising them across the states of el-Gezira, Sennar, White Nile and North Kordofan," the manifesto states.

The coalition also accuses the RSF of orchestrating a regional plot, backed by external supporters, to target its resource-rich region for its strategic importance in food security. "Our struggle is linked to the liberation of our region as part of the broader battle to liberate the entire country," the manifesto declares.

The Middle Call plans to train and arm youth to fight the militias, launch a global media campaign to raise awareness and pursue legal action against the RSF and its external backers, demanding compensation for the atrocities committed.

They also intend to coordinate with Sudanese expatriates to provide humanitarian assistance.

The group is adamant in its opposition to any peace talks or negotiations allowing the RSF to retain control over any areas in el-Gezira, Sennar, White Nile, Blue Nile or North Kordofan.

The Middle Call recently announced on its Facebook page the graduation of its first self-defence battalion in central Sudan, which includes members from el-Gezira, Sennar, White Nile, Blue Nile and North Kordofan.

This battalion has been trained to defend their lands against RSF incursions and various forms of violence, including mass killings, rape, abductions, village burnings and forced displacement.

Speaking at an online symposium, Ahmed al-Sharif, Middle Call's coordinator for the White Nile region, highlighted the systematic and organised attacks on central Sudan, accusing the RSF of orchestrating a campaign aimed at displacing residents and seizing their land.

He stated that thousands have been forced to flee el-Gezira, Sennar, North Kordofan and Blue Nile states.

"The militias have deliberately targeted farmers, driving them from their land, looting crops, food stores, seeds, and agricultural machinery - essentially stripping away the means of survival and agriculture in these villages.

This is a clear attempt to occupy the land," he told MEE. At the same event, Mohamed Ahmed al-Mahjob, coordinator for North Kordofan, blamed the RSF for the famine threatening millions across Sudan.

Agricultural expert Abdul Latif Ahmed argued that Sudan's food sovereignty has collapsed due to intentional attacks, displacing farmers and landowners from the fertile regions of el-Gezira, Sennar, White Nile and North Kordofan, where much of the land is now under RSF control.

"This tactic is reminiscent of land-grabbing practices seen in other countries and also in Sudan's Darfur region by the same militias. Some nations in the region appear to be eyeing these rich lands to secure their own food supplies," he told MEE.

Meanwhile, recent developments indicate emerging cracks within the popular resistance under SAF command.

A leading member of the armed popular resistance in River Nile State, Ahmed Ali, has defected and taken up arms against SAF. Ali, once a key figure in the armed resistance movement in River Nile State, confronted a SAF battalion in Berber city, White Nile State.

Bushra Alsaim, a local leader from Berber, told MEE that Ahmed Ali has engaged in battles against police and army forces in the area, declaring his rebellion against SAF.

According to Alsaim, Ali had raised concerns about the financing of the armed resistance movement, accusing associates of the old regime of embezzling gold mining resources meant to support the movement's volunteers.

"Fighting has been ongoing for nearly a week in al-Fraikha village near Berber between forces loyal to Ahmed Ali and government troops. Tanks and drones have been deployed, with casualties on both sides," he explained.

"We’ve heard that negotiations are underway, and we hope this can be resolved peacefully."

✍️ by Mohammed Amin/MEE

[stele3]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-cdc-expands-probe-into-charcuterie-meats-salmonella-cases-rise-2024-01-19/

[legionofmyth]

Player Tips & Tricks: Adventurer & Scholar O.C.C. Skill Selection in Rifts RPG

🎲 Master the art of Adventurer & Scholar (Vagabond) O.C.C. skill selection in the Rifts RPG with expert player tips & tricks. Unlock the secrets of character creation in this renowned tabletop game by Palladium Books. #RiftsRPG #PalladiumBooks #Rifts #PostApocalyptic #ScienceFiction #TTRPG

Rifts Ultimate Edition Rifts First Edition Master the art of Adventurer & Scholar (Vagabond) O.C.C. skill selection in the Rifts RPG with expert player tips & tricks. Unlock the secrets of character creation in this renowned tabletop game by Palladium Books. Step into a world where imagination knows no bounds, where infinite possibilities await at every turn. Rifts, the iconic role-playing game…

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Lula: Argentina’s president should apologize to Brazil

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Wednesday (Jun. 26) that the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, should apologize to Brazil. In his view, the president of the neighboring country “spoke a lot of nonsense” about him and Brazil.

Milei, a self-described “anarcho-capitalist,” was elected in a conservative coalition and represents extreme economic liberalism. During his campaign, he openly criticized President Lula and threatened to cut relations with Brazil.

Argentina is Brazil’s main trading partner in South America, but Presidents Lula and Milei have yet to meet since the Argentinian’s inauguration in December last year, when Brazil was represented by Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira.

“I haven’t talk to the president of Argentina because I think he has to apologize to Brazil and to me. He spoke a lot of nonsense. I just want him to apologize. Argentina is a country I like very much; it’s a really important country for Brazil; Brazil is very important for Argentina. And it’s not a president who is going to create a rift between Brazil and Argentina,” President Lula said in a Wednesday interview with Portal Uol.

Continue reading.

[pelcrow]

Joaquin "Jack" Navarro is a lone wolf, cyborg, and quantum physicist with an infamous talent for time-fuckery.

In the 1970s, Jack and Maggie---his wife and research partner---spearheaded the exploration of spacetime manipulation, producing a pseudo-physical albeit unstable manifestation of time. Their ambitions created disastrous consequences, ones that deteriorated Jack's mind to a state of agonizing pain and madness while also garnering transcendental abilities. He lashed out at his family, becoming more like a rabid animal than a man.

His madness was contained by the very rift he created until he fell into the hands of a powerful coalition that seized the opportunity to transform him into a literal killing machine, giving him cybernetic enhancements in order to pursue their own desires of spacetime manipulation and to strike down any opposition. Here, Jack became a violent, remorseless, teleoperated executioner.

After years of this, Jack broke away from servitude when his cybernetic receiver decayed, and he isolated himself on a distant planet where he was able to start putting together memories he had lost in the madness and trauma.

He still carries a cold and violent demeanor, a raging pessimist and bitter man with a penchant for self destruction. He has no idea what he wants, teetering between wanting to restore what was lost and wanting to remain in isolation, knowing he is at the mercy of the unstable time he created.

[beardedmrbean]

The murder of a politician in a bustling area in India's Mumbai city has sent shockwaves across the country.

Baba Ziauddin Siddique, 66, was shot on Saturday night near his carwhile he was leaving his son's office. He died later in hospital.

The killing of Siddique, an influential politician who was part of the coalition governing Maharashtra state - of which Mumbai is the capital - has set off a political blame-game.

The motive for the murder is not clear yet, but for many it has brought back memories of the 1990s, when politicians and film stars were frequently targeted by Mumbai's underworld.

Police have arrested three people so far and say investigations are continuing. Local media reports say the arrested men are part of a notorious gang whose leader is currently in jail.

Who was Baba Siddique?

Born in the eastern state of Bihar, Siddique migrated to Mumbai at the age of five with his father, a watchmaker.

He started his political career in the 1980s as a student leader with the Congress party, soon leading its youth wing in Mumbai. He then entered local council politics before being elected to the state’s legislature three times in a row and becoming a minister in 2004 for about four years.

In February, he left the Congress to join the Nationalist Congress Party which, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Shiv Sena, currently governs state.

Apart from his political activities, Siddique also made headlines for his glitzy iftar parties held during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which were attended by top Bollywood stars.

It was at his iftar party in 2013 that superstars Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan ended their much-discussed rift with a hug - that propelled "the annual Siddique affair into a must-watch event on the city’s social calendar", Midday newspaper wrote in 2016.

How was Siddique killed?

The politician was shot outside his son’s office as he was about to enter his car in the busy Bandra area.

Police said three shooters fired six-seven rounds, hitting Siddique's abdomen and chest, and fled the scene. A bystander was also injured as a stray bullet hit his leg.

Investigators said they had recovered two pistols and 28 live rounds of ammunition from the arrested men.

Siddique had three police guards - local media reported his security was upgraded days ago - but the suspects reportedly distracted them by setting off a "smoke firecracker".

What is the state of the investigation?

Police have been granted custody of the arrested men for a week. They say they are on the lookout for their accomplices.

“We have set up 15 teams and investigation is on to identify who provided logistical support to the shooters,” senior police official Datta Nalawade said.

While the police have not confirmed it, several reports citing sources have linked the arrested men with the notorious Bishnoi gang. The gang's leader Lawrence Bishnoi is an accused in several cases and is currently in a high-security prison in Gujarat state.

Within hours of the shooting, a man claiming to be a member of the gang posted on Facebook that they were behind Siddique’s killing. Police have not yet confirmed the authenticity of the post.

Though Bishnoi has been in jail since 2015, he frequently makes news. Many social media accounts claiming to belong to him or his associates have often posted his selfies from jail. He even gave interviews to a TV channel in 2022, prompting an investigation.

Many of the reports on Bishnoi are based on police sources and it’s not clear how he conducts the gang's operations while in prison.

The gang's name popped up in connection with the murder of Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moosewala in 2022.

In April, police arrested two gang members for allegedly firing shots outside the apartment of actor Salman Khan in Mumbai.

On Monday, the Canadian police also said it believed the Bishnoi group had connections to Indian government agents who were using the gang to target Sikh separatists on their soil. India has not officially responded to the police claims.

What else has happened?

Siddique’s killing is the first major assassination of a politician in Mumbai since the 1990s when high-profile killings of politicians, businessmen and Bollywood celebrities by criminal gangs of the Mumbai underworld were not uncommon.

Local media reports said he had received a death threat two weeks ago, which led to his security being upgraded.

His killing within days of that has put the state government on the backfoot, with Maharashtra set to hold assembly elections soon.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge called the murder “a complete failure of law and order in Maharashtra”, and Delhi's former chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the incident had scared not only the people of Maharashtra “but the entire country”.

Chief Minister of Maharashtra Eknath Shinde has defended his government.

“[The culprits] will not be spared no matter who they are, be it the Bishnoi gang or any underworld gang… Those who are receiving threats, their safety is the state government’s responsibility and it will fulfil its responsibility,” he said.

[sentient-rift]

(Continued from here) @travelers-of-the-multiverse

It was strange... This was nothing like the Serpentine he knew. He even went by a different name. This is very similar to Mr. Tinker... After putting his blaster away, Torque took a deep breath and calmed down.

"I... Apologize, Saleos. I mistook you for someone else. There's someone on the enemy team who has a striking resemblance to you... But it's clear you two are different people...

"My name is Commander Torque of the Spectrum Chasers. I work with the Coalition of Planets to keep peace across the galaxy. I also work with RiFT to protect the Multiverse. I assume you got here by a stray dimensional gateway... Or did you come to this dimension intentionally?"

[el1-z4]

To balance out the universe I finally got round to drawing these steampunk lesbians.

Specifically, Edith and Amelia - who've been dating for about 5 years now.

Edith is a locksmith by trade, but has a knack for making things that hopefully dont explode. She comes from a loooong heritage of victorian* inventors and scientists, meaning she grew up with huge expectations from her family. However as she got older, she began slowly distancing herself from her family due to these expectations, finding work and accommodation on the outskirts of West Hameshire.

*Victorian refers to the planet of Victoric, an incredibly old and highly culturally conservative system. This is still Arcania lol

Amelia, however, has a much, much more interesting history. The Faxiath Coalition, in recent years, has been experimenting with dimensional rift technology in order to probe the physics and workings of alternate realities. In one incident, they opened a small gateway between the lab on Ilquar and an alternate version of Earth - year 2034. This earth saw many major 20th century powers have their ideologies swapped; the EU leading the modern world in alliance with the United States of Ataria - up against the formerly communist American Federation.

Amelia, born in 2005 was born in Lyon, France, to her Scottish/French parents. She spent a good amount of her life in both countries, but eventually moved permanently to Berlin when she was 23. However, when she was 28, one morning she walked putside to find the fabric of reality around her collapsing.

In an instant, it felt like every part of her was on fire as she was flashbanged by a bright white/violet light. Just as suddenly she found herself on a precariously balanced platform at the center of what looked like a giant particle collider; scientists racing behind windows around her. Before she knew it, someone over the PA, speaking what she could only decipher as German dialect with a strange accent, asked her who she was and if she was alright. She could sort of understand it, but she could only nod or shake her head to whatever questions they asked her.

Finally, someone walked over a catwalk and outstretched an arm to her. She was pulled over by the wrist and shuffled into one of the side offices. The scientists knew they fucked up - and it was no better that the gateway was basically permanently shut.

She was given a warm drink by one of the lead scientists, and they started asking her questions once again. Her first words were, in German, "My german isnt very good... do you speak french or english..?" thinking full well she was just inside some lab still in europe, except with weird symbols on the walls and dials. Alas, she wasnt. The scientist, asked her if she spoke Atlantean or Basic - and she returned a confused look. She guessed basic and the scientist started speaking in what she knew as english. The scientist, realizing whats gone on, broke the unfortunate news to her.

Everything and everyone she knew was gone. She was in an entirely different universe with no statistically possible way home. Amelia was incredibly distraught - feeling like she was just in some kind of bad dream or that it was all an elaborate prank. But, that came crashing down the longer the scientist kept talking. Strangely enough she didnt cry at all; I don't think she knew how to interpret anything at the moment.

She spent the next few days at the lab, slowly trying to come to terms with her new situation. After a while, she was approached by another scientist who told her she couldnt stay for much longer, but they could relocate her to another planet. She was both nervous and excited at the possibility of being in space, let alone travelling to another planet - though I guess she's already on one of those.

She was relocated to victoric, as the scientists felt it best for her to go somewhere that would guarantee her safety from the news and, more importantly, somewhere they felt would feel a little more homely - technology wise. Amelia felt, admittedly, a little insulted that they thought the closest match to her time was electricity-less steampunkery, but she felt like it'd do.

Fast forward a few months, and shes living/working in a bed and breakfast outside of West Hameshire. She's getting on rather nicely, even if the trauma of reality occasionally creeps back up on her in horrific panic attacks. Except one day, this locksmith came over, whos apparently quite a regular -fixing the doors on the rooms, and goddamn she was pretty.

Anyways yeah its pretty easy to say where they went from there. They started going out about two weeks after first meeting - and they've been inseparable ever since.

As of present day, Amelia moved out of the Bed and Breakfast and moved in with Edith - though she still works there. They're really quite comfortable with where they are in life, with aspirations to see the galaxies and everything in it (Amelia's really interested in visiting the Lordean system, as well as Atlatic). Edith on the other hand, is much more interested in finally asking Amelia to marry her... if she could ever work up the impossible levels of confidence needed for it.