Nicaragua Government to Criminalize Political Opposition

Ivo Fysic February 17, 2022

Nicaragua’s Ortega government puts the political opposition on trial

From www.washingtonpost.com
2022-02-15 18:25:30

Excerpt:

Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, have dismantled the country’s democracy with startling speed. After crushing nationwide demonstrators in 2018, their government arrested protest leaders, shut down news organizations and stripped the legal status of civil society groups. Last year, with elections looming, authorities intensified the crackdown, jailing around four dozen opposition politicians, journalists and business leaders.

Nicaragua has become the most dramatic example of the crumbling of democracy in Central America, a trend condemned by the Biden administration that is contributing to surging migration.

The trials are “an attack on all types of dissidence,” said Carolina Jiménez, president of the Washington Office on Latin America, an advocacy group. She said they lacked even the minimum standards of due process. “We know these sentences aren’t pronounced by an independent justice system, but by the presidential couple.”

Nicaraguan authorities have accused the jailed activists of working with foreign powers to undermine the government. “These are the same people who promoted and directed terrorist actions in the failed coup in 2018,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement last month, referring to the anti-government protests…..l.

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Russia Uses Enslaved North Korean Workers

Mark Clouse February 15, 2022

Russia’s North Korean construction workers are being treated like virtual slaves by their own government handlers, and the Russians are continuing to benefit from this coerced labor. Around 20,000 North Koreans work as virtual slaves so the regime can get the cash from the Russians who are willing to pay for this slave labor.

North Koreans in Russia ordered to work in groups so they can’t escape — Radio Free Asia

From www.rfa.org
2022-02-14 21:20:02

Excerpt:

North Korean construction workers in Russia are being prohibited by their government back home from taking on small-scale side jobs, a policy change designed to prevent them from escaping, sources in Russia told RFA.

An estimated 20,000 North Koreans have been dispatched by their government to Russia to earn foreign cash for the regime. The government keeps the lion’s share of the wages they earn while abroad.

After several North Koreans disappeared while working apart from their handlers in mid-January, authorities gave the order that side jobs are no longer allowed. A Russian citizen of Korean descent from Vladivostok in the Russian Far East that authorities fear the workers will become “ideologically lax.”

“Since January, North Korean workers here in Russia have not been able to take on any individual small-scale contract work,” the source told RFA’s Korean Service on Feb. 9.

“From now on, all workers must work in groups of 10…

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Macron as EU President Bullies Britain Out of 0bil Project

Macron as EU President Bullies Britain Out of $100bil Project

Mark Clouse February 15, 2022

Macron torn apart for ‘sadomasochistic’ decision to block Britain from £80bn project | Science | News

From www.express.co.uk
2022-02-14 18:36:44

Excerpt:

French research minister Frédérique Vidal echoed the position of EU negotiators position and said Britain cannot take part in Horizon Europe until it resolves its Brexit disputes with the bloc. This is despite Britain’s participation in the EU’s key research and innovation project being a feature of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Ms Vidal said: “The association of a third country requires mutual trust between the parties and, of course, we expect the UK to demonstrate its willingness to cooperate on other ongoing discussions.”

Her comments come after Mr Macron snatched up the rotating presidency of the EU Council until June.

But the French President is yet to admit Britain back into the programme after it was banned.

Antoine Petit, chair and chief executive of the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) has torn apart the decision.

He said: “It’s a punishment for all of us, it’s a punishment for Europe.

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2 Killed in Sudan Anti-Coup Protests

Mark Clouse February 15, 2022

Ex-Sudan official detained as 2 killed in anti-coup protests – Las Vegas Sun

From lasvegassun.com
2022-02-14 19:38:00

Excerpt:

Sudan’s military authorities have arrested a former senior government official a second time, his party said, and at least two demonstrators were killed as thousands once again took to the streets around the country Monday to protest an October military coup.

The Unionist Alliance party said Mohammed al-Faki Suliman, a former member of the ruling Sovereign Council, was detained Sunday in the capital of Khartoum. It said security forces stopped his vehicle as he was heading from his home to the party’s headquarters.

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UK Moves Troops into Eastern Europe

Freedomist Curator February 15, 2022

UK to send military personnel to Lithuania

From www.plenglish.com
2022-02-14 20:17:08

Excerpt:

As reported by the British Ministry of Defense through the social network Twitter, the military will provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support to the Lithuanian armed forces and will help them increase their response capacity in the face of pressure on the border with Belarus.

Although it did not offer details on the number of British troops that will be deployed, Defense Minister Ben Wallace assured that London and Vilnius share concerns about the accumulation of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine and about the migratory crisis that is brewing, he said, on the Lithuanian-Belarusian dividing line.

The United Kingdom, the United States and other Western countries accuse Russia of wanting to invade Ukraine because the Ukrainian government applied for membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Moscow categorically opposes NATO expansion into Eastern Europe as a threat to its national security, and maintains more than 100,000 troops…

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Biden Follows Trump Down Yemen Fiasco

Mark Clouse February 15, 2022

Biden doubles down on a failed Yemen policy

From thehill.com
2022-02-14 21:30:15

Excerpt:

When running for office, President Biden to “make sure America does not check its values at the door to sell arms or buy oil.” In the context of the Yemen conflict, fulfilling this promise may not be easy, but it is clear: In Biden’s own words, America must “end U.S. support for Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen.” Unfortunately, the administration’s response to the recent escalation in the conflict has been to revert to the same failed playbook as previous administrations, risking further complicity in the Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) coalition’s violations.

The Yemen conflict has devastated the lives of millions of people in Yemen over the past seven years, but the recent uptick in hostilities makes clear the deadly cost of broken promises. U.S. policymakers should take bold…

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EU Will Get Poland Fines by Withholding EU Cash

Mark Clouse February 9, 2022

After the EU fined Poland for not bending its knee to the EU’s demands that it cuts off a power station and ends a lignite mining operation, Poland told the EU it’s just not paying the fines. Now, as the EU prepares to doll out the cash it gives out to member nations, it has informed Poland it will simply withhold the funds that it needs to pay the fine.

EU notifies Poland it will withhold its EU cash to cover unpaid fines

From www.euronews.com
2022-02-09 10:15:41

Excerpt:

BRUSSELS – The European Commission notified Poland on Tuesday it would withhold cash that the EU was to pay Warsaw as part of regular EU transfers, to cover the first part of fines imposed by the EU’s court on Poland which the country did not pay.

This is the first time that the Commission has to withhold EU money for a member country because it is not complying with a ruling by the EU’s top court.

Last September, the Court of Justice of the European Union put a 500,000 euro ($571,000) daily fine on Poland for not stopping the operations of its Turow lignite mine and power plant on the border with Czech Republic.

This followed a complaint from Prague that its operations were endangering water sources of residents across the border. Poland’s eurosceptic and nationalist government refused to comply with the court ruling.

“The Commission has informed Poland that it would proceed with the offsetting of payments for penalties due under case C-121/21 Czechia v Poland on Turów lignite mine”, Commission spokesman Balazs Ujvari said in a statement.

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Libyan Parliament Prepared to Declare New PM

Mark Clouse February 9, 2022

Libyan parliament set to name new PM amid signs of power struggle | News

From www.aljazeera.com
2022-02-09 11:21:38

Excerpt:

Interim PM Dbeibah says he will not hand over power, a position that could lead to a flare-up of conflicts between rival factions.

Libya’s parliament is set to name a new prime minister to head the transitional government on Thursday, raising concerns over the possibility of a new power struggle.

The effort to replace interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah comes after the date for Libya’s first presidential election – scheduled for December 24 last year – came and went during his watch.

Lawmakers argue that the mandate of Dbeibah’s government ended when the presidential election was supposed to happen: December 24. He has refused to leave.

The postponement dealt a major blow to international efforts to end a decade of chaos in the oil-rich Mediterranean nation.

The presidential vote was postponed over disputes between rival factions on laws governing the elections and controversial hopefuls.

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Slovakia Pushed to US Defense Alliance

Mark Clouse February 9, 2022

Slovakia lawmakers approve defense military treaty with US – CBS17.com

From www.cbs17.com
2022-02-09 11:44:18

Excerpt:

BRATISLAVA, Slovakia (AP) — Slovakia’s parliament on Wednesday approved a defense military treaty with the United States.

The Defense Cooperation Agreement passed 79-60 in the 150-seat legislature in a vote split between lawmakers from the four-party ruling coalition and the opposition.

The treaty allows the U.S. military to use two Slovak air force bases — Malacky-Kuchyna and Sliac — for 10 years while Slovakia — a NATO member — will receive $100 million from the U.S. to modernize them.

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Germans Want Energy Freedom from Russia

Mark Clouse February 9, 2022

Russian Gas: 79 Percent of Germans Want To Become More Independent – Survey By Stiebel Eltron Reveals | National

From www.wdrb.com
2022-02-09 06:22:14

Excerpt:

Almost 80 percent of Germans want to gradually make the country independent of energy imports from Russia. 74 percent consider it important to become independent of gas imports – for example delivered via the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Renewable energies should be expanded more quickly. These are the findings of the new “Energy Trend Survey 2022” by Stiebel Eltron. In February 2022, a market research institute conducted a representative survey of 1,000 German citizens on behalf of the company.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005962/en/

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