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Foreign Minister Lavrov on the MOST important subject of Russian foreign policy:

Lavrov on the celebration of Halloween: I would leave this issue to the discretion of each society - at school or some university. When I studied at MGIMO, we organized our holidays, put on “cabbage shows” and had fun. Sometimes it was joking, sometimes they were even fooling around, excuse me for this term, but we were all young, you probably understand what I mean. I don’t see anything destructive in certain traditions that come from the West. The main thing is that these traditions are not perceived as dominating our history, our holidays, our traditional forms of holding memorable events. I don’t see anything so scary about Halloween, except that sometimes, according to Western films, bloody crimes are committed under the guise of Halloween traditions. I hope that this does not threaten us.

Seriously? There is a war going on and this is what you’re talking about?

Where is Chomsky when we need him?? Is he ok???

Listening to Pete Seeger and imaging a better world. Sometimes u need downtimes. Where have all the flowers gone

(Nitter link) Propaganda video: PFLP soldier(s?) operating a mortar

I put the plural because we only ever see one guy on screen but the clothes and location change between clips, so it could be the same guy with a change of clothes or somebody else.

A doctor at the largest hospital in Gaza has described heavy bombing outside the facility going late into the night.

“Every time, every minute, we hear bombing around us,” orthopedic surgeon Dr Adnan Albursh of the al-Shifa hospital told the US NBC News network around midnight local time.

He said there were also multiple bombardments around al-Shifa throughout the day. Many people fled from the hospital but thousands were still there, he said.

We cannot evacuate the hospital because there are a lot of patients here. There’s children, women, all ages.

As we reported earlier, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said al-Shifa – in the heart of Gaza City – is facing a bombardment. Up to 50,000 people are sheltering there.

Palestinian officials said Israel launched airstrikes on or near four hospitals and a school on Friday, killing at least 22 people. A WHO spokesperson said 20 hospitals in Gaza were out of action and there was “intense violence” at al-Shifa hospital.

- The Guardian

Any decent resources on what actually happened in Bucha? Or is it fog of war-ey?

Jake Sullivan, US national security adviser, maintained Sunday that the US does not believe Israel intends to re-occupy Gaza after its ongoing war there with Hamas – even as the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu seemingly suggested his country would refuse to accept Palestinian rule there.

[Continues]

The Guardian

Bugs Bunny - "red light, green light" - YouTube

“The forced evacuations of Al-Nasr and Rantisi paediatric hospitals have left sick people on the streets without care...”

Also: "The Gaza health ministry, he added, is “no longer able” to report on the dead and injured due to lack of access."

Agence France-Presse reports:

“The forced evacuations of Al-Nasr and Rantisi paediatric hospitals have left sick people on the streets without care” in Gaza City, Mohammed Zaqut, director-general of hospitals in the Palestinian territory, told reporters.

“We have completely lost contact with the caregivers” at these two hospitals, he added.

Earlier Sunday, the Israeli military said it had “enabled the evacuation” of the two hospitals and opened an additional route to facilitate the safe passage of the civilian population to the south of the Gaza Strip.

Zaqut also described a “catastrophic” situation inside Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, saying “no one can enter or leave it” amid heavy fighting. Doctors and aid groups on Saturday said two out of 39 babies had died in Al-Shifa’s neonatal unit after power to their incubators was cut off.

“We must save premature babies,” Zaqut said.

Israel pledged on Saturday to help evacuate babies from the facility, which has been caught in Israel’s ground offensive and repeatedly hit by strikes.

But Melanie Ward, chief executive of the group Medical Aid for Palestinians, questioned how such an evacuation could be undertaken safely. “The transfer of critically ill neonates is a complex and technical process,” Ward said.

“With ambulances unable to reach the hospital – particularly those with the skills and equipment needed to transfer these babies – and no hospital with capacity to receive them, there is no indication of how this can be done safely.”

For days, Al-Shifa officials have said that dozens of bodies have been abandoned near the hospital and in its courtyard.

An Al-Shifa ambulance driver, speaking to AFP by telephone, said ambulances had come under sniper fire while trying to approach the bodies. “We asked to be able to bury the bodies, but anyone who goes out into the courtyard of Al-Shifa hospital gets shot,” Zaqut said.

The Gaza health ministry, he added, is “no longer able” to report on the dead and injured due to lack of access.

According to last toll from the ministry released on Friday, more than 11,000 people have died in Israel’s relentless bombing on the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians and including thousands of children.

-The Guardian

THE BITS HAVE OVERTAKEN ME SAVE ME PLEASE IM BEGGING YOU THERE'S A HUMAN HERE I NEED TO LIVE PLEASE I CANNOT POST ANY LONGER

Sofia's Mayoral Race Continues: Grigorova Refuses to Concede (Nov 6, 2023)

In the wake of a closely contested mayoral race in Sofia, Vanya Grigorova, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) candidate, is set to challenge the election of Vasil Terziev as the city's mayor.

She cited the proximity of the vote margin, estimated to be between 3,000 to 5,000 votes, as a significant factor in her decision to contest the results.

In a separate development, Blagovest Kirilov, who previously served as the deputy minister of e-governance, voiced concerns about the authenticity of the voting machines used during the election. He raised questions about the validation process and the trustworthiness of the generated hashcodes, suggesting that issues with authentication could potentially affect the accuracy of the results.

Kirilov also pointed to potential discrepancies in the handling of election protocols, emphasizing the need for a thorough examination of these documents.