What's in the News? 2.0

[Haloriel]

No one is going to mention the Finnish metal band?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIvaeu6Oxzc

The Finland group was in my top five, as it happens. 

[Beorning]

The Finland group was in my top five, as it happens. 

Not awful. Nu-metal meets pop?

Poland's entry traditionally tanked. And I think it wasn't even interesting in any way. Anybody remembers when Poland entered the Slavic porn song into the contest..?

The Italian entry wasn't bad at all.  And I dig the female guitarist.

As for the drugs controversy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRLN34s2l7Y

[Haibane]

Following the extremely serious state terrorism act of Belarus diverting an international Athens-Vilnius flight in order to arrest an opposition journalist, it appears that Belarus security may have boarded the plane in Athens and instigated the attempted take-over of the plane in order to manufacture a hi-jack scenario. The arrested man, Roman Protasevich, said he was 'nervous' in Athens as he had noted men following and photographing him then.

Given that President Putin can order civilian airliners shot down with hundreds murdered I honestly don't see a good outcome to this. I am certain that EU and USA calls to release Mr. Protasevich will be ignored. There has been little reported recently on the Belarus unrest so possibly Mr. Lukashenko's violent crackdown has begun to restore order. Does anyone have any recent reports from Belarus? I cannot find anything new.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-57224452

[Haibane]

The international community is jumping up and down and shouting a lot, but outside of military action what actually can be done? Nothing. Belarus is sanctioned already to the hilt by a number of powers but has a physical lifeline to Russia. As a Belorussian citizen said today "...this was "a new level of shock for me".

“When you constantly read or watch news like that, you tend to think that you’re getting used to them, but sometimes there’s a new twist and you realise you‘re not ready for everything yet," he told the BBC. "Terrorised… that’s the word.”

“It looks like they’re testing how far they can go. But I think everybody understands that they actually can go really far if there won’t be any appropriate reaction to this. Nobody really wants to find out, how deep is this rabbit hole? There should be a way to stop the degree of this insanity.”

"For me and my friends, it looks like there are no brakes that can stop the government now," another protester, Dzmitry, told the BBC.

"It shouldn’t be ‘deep concern’ about the situation, not deep concern only. We have a lot of local jokes about it that the EU bureaucratic machine just constantly reacts to any new level of repressions having kind of just a vocal reaction and that is far from real actions that may have an effect on those who control money and resources in Belarus."

[Quotes from BBC interviews]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-57233134

[Beorning]

This just in: Raman Pratashuk, the activist arrested on the plane, is in hospital. His condition is reported to be critical. 

[Haibane]

But since then Belarus have released a video of him sitting at a desk and admitting all the charges against him and saying he is well and being treated well. Analysts are unable to say if the voice is even his or if it is him talking whether he was speaking under duress.

His girlfriend who was travelling with him and who is innocent of any crime was arrested and escorted off the plane with him. Its not clear what charges if any are being brought against her.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-europe-57233134

Its just... outrageous.

I've really had enough of dictators treating people like trash and doing whatever they please.

[Sara Nilsson]

Simone Biles is the first woman to do a Yurchenko double pike, first woman to pull it off in a competition.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/23/us/simone-biles-yurchenko-double-pike-trnd/index.html

I mean.. i got out of bed without hurting myself.. much.. so..

That woman is so amazing and I am in awe

[Lilias]

Not awful. Nu-metal meets pop?

They call their style 'violent pop', which I find both accurate and adorable.

Poland's entry traditionally tanked. And I think it wasn't even interesting in any way. Anybody remembers when Poland entered the Slavic porn song into the contest..?

For the record, I loved the Polish entry. It may be 80s nostalgia clouding my judgment, but here we are. I'd have it in the final over Switzerland any day.

The Italian entry wasn't bad at all.  And I dig the female guitarist.

As for the drugs controversy:

Cleared!

[Tolvo]

With how animated the Eurovision discussion has been it makes me think next one people ought to make a thread for it since it sounds like ya'll would have fun discussing it as it goes. ^_^

[Haibane]

I agree, maybe it could go in the uplifting/positive news thread. I admit that being engaged right now with the awful news from Belarus, Myanmar and India, seeing people discussing a pop music competition makes me feel a strange disconnect.

[Haibane]

One year today since George Floyd died. I find it incredible how fast this year has gone.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-us-canada-57235824

[Beorning]

I, too, am infuriated at the Belarus situation. Okay, UE and the States voiced their protests. UE is planning on putting additional sanctions on Belarus. But... so what? Lukashenka doesn't care. As long as Russia is the lifeline of Belarus' economy, he can cheerfully ignore UE's economic sanctions.

Why won't UE impose additional sanctions on *Russia*? They are in full support of what Lukashenka is doing. I've read the comments from Russia's government and they are absolutely brazen: Lukashenka did nothing wrong, Belarus has every right to stop any terrorist threats etc. And the West lets it slide.

I mean, Germany protests against the actions of Lukashenka and Putin, but Nordstream 2 is still going to be built. And Biden also seems to have accepted this project. Seriously, what? I feel that the sanctions against Belarus and Russia are imposed so that they hurt... but not too much. And don't cause any trouble for countries imposing them 

[Lilias]

William Shakespeare, the first man in the UK (and the world) to receive the Pfizer vaccine, has died of an unrelated illness, aged 81.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-57234741

[Haibane]

On the first anniversary of George Floyd's death the BBC has put together this article that covers the BLM and other anti-racist protests in sport and by sports personalities.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/extra/Dj6EylW1Rb/Sport-and-the-fight-for-change?xtor=CS8-1000-%5BPromo_Box%5D-%5BNews_Promo%5D-%5BNews_Promo%5D-%5BPS_SPORT~N~~A_HowSportJoinedtheFightforChange%5D

[Mechelle]

There were some remarkable scenes in Britain today where Dominic Cummings, once Boris Johnson's special adviser, testified to a parliamentary committee about the events in the pandemic.  He actually apologised for his own actions in it, although this may have been an attempt to convince his audience of his sincerity.
Some of the highlights were that he said Boris Johnson was unfit to be prime minister, was responsible for thousands upon thousands of deaths due to his reluctance to impose a lockdown and the consequent delay, and that he did not take covid seriously at all at first, even planning to get himself injected with covid by his scientific advisers live on television to show how minor it was! You might recall Johnson contracting covid about shaking hands with everyone in a hospital ward. At the same time,  Johnson's girlfriend,Carrie Symonds, was obsessing about a story in the media about their dog. Later in the cycle, Johnson said he was prepared to see the bodies pile up before imposing another lockdown; he later imposed another lockdown. Meanwhile, Symonds forced Cummings out of his job.

He was even more critical of Health Secretary Matt Hancock, whom he had said should have been sacked 15 or 20 times  for lying about preparedness, and general incompetence, but he was curiously full of phrase for other ministers such as Dominic Raab and Rishi Sunak.

This went on for seven hours, and I there were lots of things I have forgotten. This was quite an extraordinary event; even if you think Cummings is a narcissistic liar out for revenge, which is likely correct, then why did Johnson appoint him to such an important role. There's more on the link below.




https://www.itv.com/news/2021-05-26/dominic-cummings-coronavirus-pandemic-handling-government-boris-johnson-mps-committee

[Haibane]

Oh, I think many politicians gather up the dirt as they go along, storing it away for future ammunition so that when they are ousted they can drag others they now bear hatred for down with them, even those they once worked well with. Look how the Tories turned on Thatcher back in the 80s. Its terribly childish and shows a side of people who really aren't fit to serve their nation. I think those politicians who are not like Cummings are in the minority and as to his appointment, one cannot ever know the mind of another person and in times of crisis or success (whichever applies) one often employs people for their ability at that moment.

On a different issue Uber have finally acknowledged a trade union for the first time which should help in combating the exploitation issues we discussed some weeks back.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57254962

[Beorning]

Regarding the Belarus situation - Lukashenka gave an official statement regarding the hijacked plane:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57260125

Basically: "We really did receive a bomb threat - and yes, it was false, but that's because such bomb threats are made by Western countries waging a hybrid war on us!". The BBC article doesn't mention it, but Lukashenka also claimed that Belarus is "being flooded" by false bomb threats - and many of these threats originated in Poland. Riiiiiiiight.

On a related note, here's what Russia Today's correspondent in Minsk had to say about Roman Protasevich:

"To make it clear: Protasevich is a scum, a punk, a freak, a bitch, a c*nt, a motherfucker, he must die"

(source: https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1397219741178253326)

This is... awful 

[Sara Nilsson]

https://www.wbir.com/article/news/crime/woman-protest-drive-through-covid-vaccine-maryville/51-b5079aab-01a5-4c88-ac7f-5da3f8028d18

MARYVILLE, Tenn. — A Greenback woman faces multiple reckless endangerment charges after speeding through a COVID-19 vaccination tent to protest the vaccine, according to the Blount Co. Sheriff's Office.

Terrorism.. pure and fucking simple.

[Mechelle]

Regarding the Belarus situation - Lukashenka gave an official statement regarding the hijacked plane:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57260125

Basically: "We really did receive a bomb threat - and yes, it was false, but that's because such bomb threats are made by Western countries waging a hybrid war on us!". The BBC article doesn't mention it, but Lukashenka also claimed that Belarus is "being flooded" by false bomb threats - and many of these threats originated in Poland. Riiiiiiiight.

On a related note, here's what Russia Today's correspondent in Minsk had to say about Roman Protasevich:

"To make it clear: Protasevich is a scum, a punk, a freak, a bitch, a c*nt, a motherfucker, he must die"

(source: https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1397219741178253326)

This is... awful 

That says a lot about RT, which is easily available in Britain, and on which a lot of British politicians, from all parties, have appeared.

I do sometimes like to see what people with other opinions from me do think, but I refuse to watch this channel.

I am in the unusual position, as I have probably mentioned before, of speaking to Belarusians on a daily basis at work, but we don't discuss politics....

[Oniya]

Over here, RT is generally presumed to be a propaganda channel.  Kinda like Fox News with a different accent.

[Lilias]

Eric Carle, the creator of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', has died

[The Lovely Tsaritsa]

Over here, RT is generally presumed to be a propaganda channel.  Kinda like Fox News with a different accent.

That is very sad.

[Skynet]

The law and order party sticking their necks out for people who tried to overthrow the US' democratic institutions.

[Haibane]

https://www.wbir.com/article/news/crime/woman-protest-drive-through-covid-vaccine-maryville/article/news/crime/woman-protest-drive-through-covid-vaccine-maryville/51-b5079aab-01a5-4c88-ac7f-5da3f8028d18

Terrorism.. pure and fucking simple.

That link seems to be broken. I cannot even access https://www.wbir.com

And yes, Republicans blocking the bipartisan commission, Belarus, Maryville, there is just so much painful, ugly and wrong in the world... I feel especially upset that Roman Protasevich's obviously innocent girlfriend has been dragged into this. Its disgusting.

[Oniya]

WBIR is a local station in Tennessee - I got the same error, but navigated to this through their search page.

I did a search with the woman's name and brought up this result on ABC News, in case it's a localization issue.