We're All Doomed!™ (the Conquest, War, Famine, and Death Thread)

[Meds]

Fortunately human-to-human transmission is very rare.

[Per]

At least 80 dead and another 350 infected in an ebola outbreak in Congo-Kinshasa.

[donlever]

What are the stats on deaths and health issues with respect to Congolese Cobalt mining?

[Per]

What are the stats on deaths and health issues with respect to Congolese Cobalt mining?

Your guess is as good as mine. A lot of that mining is artesanal in makeshift mines and I’m not even sure the authorities have any reliable records, and if they do - I’m not sure they want to release them. There’s a lot of money involved.

Also, even though cobalt poisoning can lead to people vomiting blood, I think they have confirmed that this really is ebola.
Now they’re just hoping they can contain it before it spreads to neighbouring countries and beyond.

[Per]

Ukraine taking the war to russia!

This is exactly what they need to do! The russians need to understand that in order to end the war, they have to withdraw their troops from all the illegally occupied Ukrainian territory and respect Ukrainian sovereignty.

And the Ukrainians also have the decency to only strike militarily strategic targets, in this case an oil depot and a naval base on the outskirts of St Petersburg. Anf this on the very day that the russian Davos style economic forum with dignitaries from several countries started there.

Contrast this wiith the russian terror bombing of civilian targets such as hospitals, schools, railway stations, residential areas and market places. Often with two-fold attacks, so you get another barrage when the first respondents have arrived at the scene, killing firemen, medics, et cetera, as they try to assist those injured in the first attack.

The UN recently issued a statement that this constitutes a war crime.
But the list of war crimes committed by russia is long by now. That’s why a Nuremberg style tribunal at the end of the war is an absolute necessity. War lords around the world need to take note that they will eventually have to pay for their crimes against humanity.

On another bright note, Ukraine has ordered 20 Gripen fighters of the latest model from Sweden. Unfortunately those can’t be delivered until 2030, but to bridge the gap Sweden is donating 16 older Gripen fighters that have been in use in the Swedish Royal Air Force for the past ten years and that can be delivered at the end of this year. Ukrainian pilots and ground crews just need to get trained first.

And on June 15th the first round of EU membership negotiations will begin for Ukraine and Moldova.
Those negotiations typically take several years though. There are a lot of steps a country needs to take in order to qualify for membership. There has to be laws in place to guarantee an independent judiciary, respect for minority rights, etc. There need to be strict laws and safeguards against corruption. How easy it will be to implement all the changes necessary while fighting a war against an aggressor with no respect for human rights remains to be seen, but at least the EU is showing that we are willing to let Ukraine in, which may help boost morale.