Snip:

Moscow urges Washington to immediately release Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Dmitry Lyubinsky said at a high-level meeting of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations in Geneva.

"We strongly call on Washington to immediately release Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife. We stand firm for respecting Venezuela’s sovereignty and peaceful settlement of all differences," he said.

He stressed that the US armed aggression against Venezuela on January 3, when more than 100 people were killed and the country’s legitimate president was abducted, "is a flagrant violation of international law, including the UN Charter."

"Extrajudicial reprisals in the Caribbean Sea, resulting from the sinking of ships by the Americans under the pretext of combating drug trafficking, are equally unacceptable," Lyubinsky emphasized.

Snip:

China’s Ministry of State Security (MSS) has provided Iran with new technology in an effort to prevent infiltration by US and Israeli intelligence, and to help Tehran defend itself from advanced US and Israeli warplanes in the case of a renewed war, according to a 10 February report by Modern Diplomacy.

This includes supplying Iran with advanced Chinese sensor systems and radars, such as the YLC-8B, capable of tracking stealth aircraft and conducting electronic surveillance.

Defense Security Asia stated that according to one analyst, the “YLC-8B is one of the few radars of its type in the world which can continuously detect and track a Western fifth-generation (stealth) aircraft at long range.”

The YLC-8B was developed by China’s Nanjing Research Institute of Electronics Technology. It uses UHF-band low-frequency surveillance to undermine the effectiveness of radar-absorbent shaping used by advanced US aircraft such as the F-35 warplane and B-2 bomber. The Israeli Air Force (IAF) reportedly has 48 F-35 stealth fighter jets in its fleet.

Snip:

Mexicans recently concluded on February 23 a massive solidarity campaign in its emblematic Zocalo square, collecting over 200 tons of humanitarian aid for Cuba, strongly denouncing the persistent and detrimental U.S. economic, commercial and financial blockade against the Caribbean nation.

This crucial effort was spearheaded by the “Go for Cuba” Movement (“Va por Cuba”, in Spanish) and the Association of Cubans Residing in Mexico, bringing together dozens of social organizations, educational institutions, labor unions, and universities across the country.

This monumental effort not only provided tangible assistance but also served as a powerful platform to denounce the protracted and illegal U.S. economic, commercial, and financial blockade, now extended to include petroleum, against the Caribbean island.

The active involvement of the Mexican Government, particularly the Mexico City authorities and the Secretariat of the Navy, was indispensable in ensuring the intricate logistical operations required for such a large-scale collection and distribution.

Josef Mengele isn't just a hero to Germans.

I hope y'all like some BBC propaganda slop! It's the same greatest hits they've been playing for years.

Linky: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgj9p15y87o

Archive linky: https://archive.is/1bXdt

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to send out a firm message of defiance.

When we met this weekend in the government headquarters in Kyiv, he said that far from losing, Ukraine would end the war victorious. He was firmly against paying the price for a ceasefire deal demanded by President Vladimir Putin, which is withdrawing from strategic ground that Russia has failed to capture despite sacrificing tens of thousands of soldiers.

Putin, Zelensky told me, has already started World War Three, and the only answer was intense military and economic pressure to force him to step back.

"I believe that Putin has already started it. The question is how much territory he will be able to seize and how to stop him... Russia wants to impose on the world a different way of life and change the lives people have chosen for themselves."

What about Russia's demand for Ukraine to hand over the 20% of the eastern region of Donetsk that it still holds - a line of towns Ukraine calls "fortress cities" - as well as more land in the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia? Isn't that, I asked, a reasonable request if it produces a ceasefire?

"I see this differently. I don't look at it simply as land. I see it as abandonment - weakening our positions, abandoning hundreds of thousands of our people who live there. That is how I see it. And I am sure that this 'withdrawal' would divide our society."

But isn't it a good price to pay if that satisfies Putin? Do you think it would satisfy him?

"It would probably satisfy him for a while... he needs a pause... but once he recovers, our European partners say it could take three to five years. In my opinion, he could recover in no more than a couple of years. Where would he go next? We do not know, but that he would want to continue [the war] is a fact."

I met Zelensky in a conference room inside the heavily guarded government enclave in a well-to-do corner of central Kyiv. In the interview he spoke mostly in Ukrainian.

You get a sense of the weight of leadership carried by Zelensky from the diligence of his security guards.

Visiting any head of state requires rigorous checks. But entering the presidential buildings in Kyiv takes the process to a level I have rarely experienced before.

It is not surprising in a country at war, with a president who has already been targeted by Russia.

Despite all that, the man who started as an entertainer, who won the Ukrainian version of Strictly Come Dancing in 2006, and played the role of an unexpected president of Ukraine in a TV comedy, before becoming the real-life president of Ukraine, seems to be remarkably resilient.

US President Donald Trump said on the eve of the most recent ceasefire talks in Geneva that "Ukraine better come to the table fast".

He continues to default to putting more pressure on Ukraine than on Russia.

Western diplomats have indicated since last summer that Trump agrees with Putin that territorial concessions from Ukraine to Russia are the key to the ceasefire Trump wants, ideally before this coming summer.

Plenty of analysts outside the White House also judge that Ukraine cannot win the war and, without making concessions to Moscow, will lose it.

I asked Zelensky whether Trump and the others had a point.

"Where are you now?" Zelensky asked in return. "Today you are in Kyiv, you are in the capital of our homeland, you are in Ukraine. I am very grateful for this. Will we lose? Of course not, because we are fighting for Ukraine's independence."

Zelensky has often said that Ukraine can win, but what would victory look like?

Of course, he said, victory meant restoring normal lives for Ukrainians and ending the killing. But the wider view of victory he presented was all about a global threat that he says comes from Putin.

"I believe that stopping Putin today and preventing him from occupying Ukraine is a victory for the whole world. Because Putin will not stop at Ukraine."

You are not saying that victory is getting all the land back, are you?

"We'll do it. That is absolutely clear. It is only a matter of time. To do it today would mean losing a huge number of people - millions of people - because the [Russian] army is large, and we understand the cost of such steps. You would not have enough people, you would be losing them. And what is land without people? Honestly, nothing."

"And we also don't have enough weapons. That depends not just on us, but on our partners. So as of now that's not possible but returning to the just borders of 1991 [the year Ukraine declared its independence, precipitating the final collapse of the Soviet Union] without a doubt, is not only a victory, it's justice. Ukraine's victory is the preservation of our independence, and a victory of justice for the whole world is the return of all our lands."

A year ago, Zelensky visited the White House and received a reception one senior Western diplomat described to me as a pre-planned public "diplomatic mugging" from Donald Trump and his Vice-President JD Vance.

Their argument, in the presence of the world's media, was watched by millions around the world.

Trump, just inaugurated as president for the second time, was sending the strongest possible signal that the era of support Zelensky and Ukraine had relied on from President Joe Biden was over. Nato members were already on notice from the new administration. Vance had just got back from shattering Western European illusions about the strength of the trans-Atlantic alliance.

Since then, reportedly coached by Britain's National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell among others, Zelensky has avoided public confrontations with Trump.

The US president has stopped almost all shipments of military aid to Ukraine. But the US still provides vital intelligence, and European countries are spending billions buying weapons from the Americans to give to Ukraine

I asked Ukraine's president about Trump's often contradictory statements, recalling that among the untruths he has uttered is the accusation that Zelensky is a dictator who started the war - a precise echo of claims made by Vladimir Putin.

Zelensky laughed.

"I am not a dictator, and I didn't start the war, that's it."

But can you trust Trump? If you extract a security guarantee from him, I asked, would he keep his word? He is after all a man who changes his mind.

"It is not only President Trump, we're talking about America. We are all presidents for the appropriate terms. We want guarantees for 30 years for example. Political elites will change, leaders will change."

He meant that US security guarantees needed approval from Congress in Washington DC to make them watertight.

"They will be voted on in Congress for a reason. It's not just presidents. Congress is needed. Because the presidents change, but institutions stay."

In other words, Donald Trump might be unreliable, but he will not be there for ever.

Zelensky says those security guarantees would have to be in place before he could consider another US demand - for Ukraine to hold a general election by the summer, echoing another Russian talking point that Zelensky is an illegitimate president. Trump has not demanded elections in Russia, where Putin became leader for the first time on the last day of the 20th Century.

Zelensky said he had not decided whether to stand again, whenever an election is held: "I might run and might not."

Elections were due in 2024, but they could not be held under martial law that was introduced after Russia's full-scale invasion.

Holding postponed elections, Zelensky said, was technically possible if they had time to change the law to allow them to happen. But he needed security guarantees for Ukraine first.

He went on to raise so many potential problems about holding an election with millions of Ukrainians abroad as refugees and significant tracts of the country occupied by Russia that I suggested that in reality he was against the idea.

"If this is a condition for ending the war, let's do it. I said, 'honestly, you constantly raise the issue of elections'. I told the partners, 'you need to decide one thing: you want to get rid of me or you want to hold elections? If you want to hold elections, (even if you are not ready to tell me honestly even now), then hold these elections honestly. Hold them in a way that the Ukrainian people will recognise, first of all. And you yourself must recognise that these are legitimate elections'."

cross-posted from: https://lemmygrad.ml/post/10806870

https://archive.ph/1cLgt

whistleblower for the ministry of "well both sides have a point" confirms the sky is not red and is actually blue after year-long campaign to convince voters it doesn't really matter and we don't need to look into it

Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Elected as General Secretary of WPK

Pyongyang, February 23 (KCNA) -- A decision of the Ninth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea "On Election of the General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea" was adopted on Feb. 22.

The decision is as follows:

Today our revolutionary cause for the comprehensive socialist construction is making a dynamic advance, achieving unprecedented miracles at an extraordinary speed under the experienced and seasoned leadership of the ever-victorious Workers' Party of Korea.

At the Ninth Congress of the WPK held in the annals of the stirring struggle for making great and epochal changes unprecedented in the history of the DPRK's growth and development while braving all challenges and difficulties of history, all the Party members and people are to make an important decision on electing the head of the WPK, the centre of leadership and unity who embodies the organizational will of the whole Party.

To elect the head of the WPK who assumes the heavy responsibility for guiding the state and the people to the victory of the socialist cause is of greatest significance in the work of the Party Congress, the supreme leadership body of the Party, as it is an important affair decisive of the Party's leadership ability and the future destiny of the country and the people.

The attention of millions of Party members and all the people is now focused on this decision.

The current Congress fully supported and approved the polite proposal for re-electing Comrade Kim Jong Un as the top leader of the WPK.

This is the historical appraisal of the past five-year struggle, in which epochal changes had been made with the august name of Comrade Kim Jong Un as the banner of invincibility, and its great fruition and an expression of the responsible and solemn stand reflecting the choice and will of all the people.

At a turning point in which the noble ideology and ideal our Party has adhered to in its protracted and sacred history are being translated into gigantic reality and the new era of building a strong and prosperous state is being ushered in on the path of the Juche revolution, all the Party members and other people of the country and all servicepersons of the armed forces of the Republic are making a pledge of loyalty to invariably hold in high esteem Comrade Kim Jong Un as the centre of unity and leadership, cherishing the immutable truth that the greatness of Kim Jong Un is the guiding power of our Party, the might of our state and the glory of socialism.

Kim Jong Un is the most prominent statesman who has performed great exploits before the country and the revolution and on behalf of the times and history by leading our Party and people only to victory with his rare ideo-theoretical wisdom, distinguished leadership ability and noble popular traits and the only person who can represent the mightiness and invincibility of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, our great state.

Holding fast to great Kimilsungism-Kimjongilism as the guiding idea of our Party and bringing about a radical turn in the Party building and activities, he has thoroughly maintained the revolutionary character of the WPK as the powerful political staff which established the oneness of ideology and leadership and as an invincible party which has served the people and become a harmonious whole with the popular masses.

He set forth the five-point Party-building line in the new era and has energetically led the struggle for its implementation and thus developed the WPK into a party, politically mature, organizationally strong, ideologically pure, strict in discipline and sound in work style. This is an immortal exploit that provided a decisive guarantee for building up the political force which powerfully guides the Korean revolution and socialist construction to upturn and carrying forward the leadership ability of our Party for all ages.

He clarified a new-stage goal for the comprehensive development of our own style socialist construction and clear programme with obvious possibility and ushered in an era of change and innovations unprecedented in the history of the Republic with his correct and original revolutionary leadership.

He set forth the scientific fighting policy for the stable development of the self-supporting economy, brought about precious successes in implementing the five-year plan and developing the overall economy, laid a solid material foundation for the economic and cultural development and improvement of the people's standard of living through a great upsurge in the construction revolution and opened up an eye-opening reality in which the appearance of the country was radically changed in a short span of time.

It is the historic exploit that can be achieved only by Kim Jong Un that the gigantic revolution started to eliminate the backwardness of regions and rural areas, which had remained as the fetters of development for a long time, and improve the material and cultural environment of the country and the eternal foundation for comprehensive prosperity has been consolidated as its brilliant fruition.

The epochal results have been made in the healthcare revolution for reconstructing the medical field of the country in an advanced way and remarkable achievements made in the fields of science, education, sports, literature and arts one after another. This is the fruition of the outstanding leadership of Kim Jong Un who has pioneered a high stage of development of the state, guiding all fields of socialist construction.

Clearly recorded in the history of the Party and the country are the outstanding leadership mode and sacred annals of the revolutionary activities of Kim Jong Un who has made sure that the might of single-minded unity with patriotism is steadily displayed, boosting the pride and self-esteem of Koreans with his great examples, and trained a large contingent of reliable socialist builders and successors faithful to the country and the revolution through practical struggle.

Kim Jong Un has ensured that the people really benefit from the most advantageous socialist policies, firmly defended the life and security of the people in any crisis and taken warm care of them. His noble world of devoted service for the people's wellbeing is attracting all the people and adding luster to our motherland as a genuine people's country.

He has energetically led the work to turn the Korean People's Army, the pivot of national defence and pillar of safeguarding peace, into an elite and powerful army and thus built the revolutionary armed forces capable of coping with any threat of aggression on their own initiative and fully prepared for any form of war.

The leadership of Kim Jong Un who has strengthened our army into the vanguard ranks supporting the ideology and cause of the WPK is the driving force that enabled the WPK to dynamically carry out the epochal great tasks and accelerate the advance of the revolution.

As we hold in high esteem the peerless patriot possessed of the steadfast revolutionary spirit, iron will and unusual pluck and courage as the top leader, the war deterrence of the country with the nuclear forces as its pivot has been radically improved and our state has dynamically advanced in the orbit of prosperity and the future destiny of the country and the people has been reliably guaranteed despite the stern challenges of history.

With his strong revolutionary principle and extraordinary strategy and through his seasoned external activities Kim Jong Un has remarkably raised the dignity and prestige of the DPRK, created an international environment favorable for the Korean revolution and made a great contribution to the common cause of mankind for independence and justice.

He has ushered in a golden age of building the WPK, fully demonstrated the prestige and national power of Juche Korea and brought a new era of comprehensive socialist construction in which the people's ideals and desire are realized. He is the outstanding political activist of the DPRK nobody can take place, and the most ardent patriot, the prominent representative of the Korean nation, the great dignity of our Party, state and people and the symbol of all victories and glory.

It is the solemn requirement of the times and history to hold in high esteem Kim Jong Un, who has enjoyed boundless trust and respect of all the Korean people for his noble sense of mission for the destiny of the country and people, warm love for them, outstanding political caliber and immortal exploits, as the top leader of the WPK again.

The Ninth Congress of the WPK decides to elect Kim Jong Un as general secretary of the WPK in accordance with the unshakable will and unanimous desire of all the delegates, millions of Party members, all the people and service personnel of the People's Army for the development of the WPK and the prosperity of the state. -0-
www.kcna.kp (2026.02.23.)

http://kcna.kp/en/article/q/2e586768b89f193739b5057603de1797.kcmsf

https://archive.is/r3ylQ (kcna)

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korea-ruling-workers-party-re-elects-kim-jong-un-general-secretary-kcna-2026-02-22/

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/22/north-koreas-kim-jong-un-re-elected-as-chief-of-workers

Claudia Sheinbaum is my president.

probably unrelated to killing that cartel guy idk