Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/13023984 The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China’s latest working conditions report “Masks Off, Barriers Remain” describes another challenging year for international media in 2023. Difficulties persisted in spite of an improved reporting environment due to the end of China’s tough “COVID Zero” policy and related restrictions on movement, restoring reporters’ ability to move around the country relatively freely. No respondents said reporting conditions surpassed pre-pandemic conditions. Almost all respondents (99%) said reporting conditions in China rarely or never met international reporting standards. Four out of five (81%) respondents said they had experienced interference, harassment, or violence. 54% of respondents were obstructed at least once by police or other officials (2022: 56%), 45% encountered obstruction at least once by persons unknown (2022: 36%). Correspondents are accustomed to receiving such treatment in areas the Chinese authorities consider “politically sensitive”: 85% of journalists who tried to report from Xinjiang in 2023 experienced problems. However, the definition of “sensitive” areas appears to be expanding: An increasing number of journalists encountered issues in regions bordering Russia (79%), Southeast Asian nations (43%) or in ethnically diverse regions like Inner Mongolia (68%). Technology plays an increasingly important role in the surveillance toolkit deployed by the Chinese authorities to monitor and interfere in the work of the foreign journalist community. For the first time, respondents told the FCCC of authorities using drones to monitor them in the field. A majority of respondents had reason to believe the authorities had possibly or definitely compromised their WeChat (81%), their phone (72%), and/or placed audio recording bugs in their office or home (55%). 82% of respondents reported they had interviews declined by sources who stated they were not permitted to speak to foreign media or required prior permission. More than a third (37%) of respondents said reporting trips or interviews already confirmed were canceled last minute because of official pressure (2022: 31%).
Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/13023984 The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China’s latest working conditions report “Masks Off, Barriers Remain” describes another challenging year for international media in 2023. Difficulties persisted in spite of an improved reporting environment due to the end of China’s tough “COVID Zero” policy and related restrictions on movement, restoring reporters’ ability to move around the country relatively freely. No respondents said reporting conditions surpassed pre-pandemic conditions. Almost all respondents (99%) said reporting conditions in China rarely or never met international reporting standards. Four out of five (81%) respondents said they had experienced interference, harassment, or violence. 54% of respondents were obstructed at least once by police or other officials (2022: 56%), 45% encountered obstruction at least once by persons unknown (2022: 36%). Correspondents are accustomed to receiving such treatment in areas the Chinese authorities consider “politically sensitive”: 85% of journalists who tried to report from Xinjiang in 2023 experienced problems. However, the definition of “sensitive” areas appears to be expanding: An increasing number of journalists encountered issues in regions bordering Russia (79%), Southeast Asian nations (43%) or in ethnically diverse regions like Inner Mongolia (68%). Technology plays an increasingly important role in the surveillance toolkit deployed by the Chinese authorities to monitor and interfere in the work of the foreign journalist community. For the first time, respondents told the FCCC of authorities using drones to monitor them in the field. A majority of respondents had reason to believe the authorities had possibly or definitely compromised their WeChat (81%), their phone (72%), and/or placed audio recording bugs in their office or home (55%). 82% of respondents reported they had interviews declined by sources who stated they were not permitted to speak to foreign media or required prior permission. More than a third (37%) of respondents said reporting trips or interviews already confirmed were canceled last minute because of official pressure (2022: 31%).
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China’s latest working conditions report “Masks Off, Barriers Remain” describes another challenging year for international media in 2023. Difficulties persisted in spite of an improved reporting environment due to the end of China’s tough “COVID Zero” policy and related restrictions on movement, restoring reporters’ ability to move around the country relatively freely. No respondents said reporting conditions surpassed pre-pandemic conditions. Almost all respondents (99%) said reporting conditions in China rarely or never met international reporting standards. Four out of five (81%) respondents said they had experienced interference, harassment, or violence. 54% of respondents were obstructed at least once by police or other officials (2022: 56%), 45% encountered obstruction at least once by persons unknown (2022: 36%). Correspondents are accustomed to receiving such treatment in areas the Chinese authorities consider “politically sensitive”: 85% of journalists who tried to report from Xinjiang in 2023 experienced problems. However, the definition of “sensitive” areas appears to be expanding: An increasing number of journalists encountered issues in regions bordering Russia (79%), Southeast Asian nations (43%) or in ethnically diverse regions like Inner Mongolia (68%). Technology plays an increasingly important role in the surveillance toolkit deployed by the Chinese authorities to monitor and interfere in the work of the foreign journalist community. For the first time, respondents told the FCCC of authorities using drones to monitor them in the field. A majority of respondents had reason to believe the authorities had possibly or definitely compromised their WeChat (81%), their phone (72%), and/or placed audio recording bugs in their office or home (55%). 82% of respondents reported they had interviews declined by sources who stated they were not permitted to speak to foreign media or required prior permission. More than a third (37%) of respondents said reporting trips or interviews already confirmed were canceled last minute because of official pressure (2022: 31%).
www.aljazeera.com
Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/13000698 Beijing often states that there are about 60 million people of Chinese origin living abroad in nearly 200 countries and regions, presumably excluding those living in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the self-ruled island that the CCP claims as its own. People of Chinese ethnicity can trace their roots back centuries in countries like Malaysia, where they make up some 23 percent of the population, and Thailand and Indonesia. In the telling of China’s story, Xi has recently highlighted the role that “Chinese sons and daughters at home and abroad” must play in “uniting all Chinese people to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”. According to Associate Professor Ian Chong Ja, who teaches Chinese foreign policy at the National University of Singapore, Xi’s language suggests that the CCP sees ethnic Chinese across the world as a vehicle to mobilise support and advance Beijing’s interests, even if those people are not nationals of China and have no allegiance to the country.
www.aljazeera.com
Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/13000698 Beijing often states that there are about 60 million people of Chinese origin living abroad in nearly 200 countries and regions, presumably excluding those living in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the self-ruled island that the CCP claims as its own. People of Chinese ethnicity can trace their roots back centuries in countries like Malaysia, where they make up some 23 percent of the population, and Thailand and Indonesia. In the telling of China’s story, Xi has recently highlighted the role that “Chinese sons and daughters at home and abroad” must play in “uniting all Chinese people to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”. According to Associate Professor Ian Chong Ja, who teaches Chinese foreign policy at the National University of Singapore, Xi’s language suggests that the CCP sees ethnic Chinese across the world as a vehicle to mobilise support and advance Beijing’s interests, even if those people are not nationals of China and have no allegiance to the country.
www.aljazeera.com
Beijing often states that there are about 60 million people of Chinese origin living abroad in nearly 200 countries and regions, presumably excluding those living in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the self-ruled island that the CCP claims as its own. People of Chinese ethnicity can trace their roots back centuries in countries like Malaysia, where they make up some 23 percent of the population, and Thailand and Indonesia. In the telling of China’s story, Xi has recently highlighted the role that “Chinese sons and daughters at home and abroad” must play in “uniting all Chinese people to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”. According to Associate Professor Ian Chong Ja, who teaches Chinese foreign policy at the National University of Singapore, Xi’s language suggests that the CCP sees ethnic Chinese across the world as a vehicle to mobilise support and advance Beijing’s interests, even if those people are not nationals of China and have no allegiance to the country.
tardigrada Now • 100%
This is the G-free link without AMP: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/06/government-candidate-peter-pellegrini-wins-slovakias-presidential-race
If you could change the link it would be very appreciated.
www.telegraph.co.uk
Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/12997488 Originally from the coastal city of Mariupol, Ukrainian teenager Bohdan Yermokhin was forced to live in Moscow for almost one and a half years after he and 30 other Ukrainian orphans were rounded up by Russian forces and deported against their will. Nicknamed the Mariupol 31, he and his friends had already lived through months of brutal siege, witnessing widespread death and destruction as Vladimir Putin’s forces turned their home city to rubble. Mr Yermokhin said the Russians tried to gain his trust, treating him nicely at first, but things deteriorated over time when he retained his positivity towards Ukraine – he would regularly argue with those around him and it was a constant psychological strain. The Mariupol 31 were quickly turned into a propaganda tool for Moscow to “prove” they had saved the city. Mr Yermokhin’s best friend, Pylyp Holovnya, became a poster boy for Russia’s so-called rescue missions when he was adopted by Maria Lvova-Belova, the ombudsman for children’s rights. A half-hour documentary called This Is My Child broadcast on a nationalist TV channel last year told the story of Mr Holovnya’s removal from Mariupol, with Mrs Lvova-Belova declaring: “The moment I spoke to him I realised he’s mine: this is my child.” A few months before, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Mrs Lvova-Belova, as well as Putin, over the unlawful removal of Ukraine’s children.
www.telegraph.co.uk
Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/12997488 Originally from the coastal city of Mariupol, Ukrainian teenager Bohdan Yermokhin was forced to live in Moscow for almost one and a half years after he and 30 other Ukrainian orphans were rounded up by Russian forces and deported against their will. Nicknamed the Mariupol 31, he and his friends had already lived through months of brutal siege, witnessing widespread death and destruction as Vladimir Putin’s forces turned their home city to rubble. Mr Yermokhin said the Russians tried to gain his trust, treating him nicely at first, but things deteriorated over time when he retained his positivity towards Ukraine – he would regularly argue with those around him and it was a constant psychological strain. The Mariupol 31 were quickly turned into a propaganda tool for Moscow to “prove” they had saved the city. Mr Yermokhin’s best friend, Pylyp Holovnya, became a poster boy for Russia’s so-called rescue missions when he was adopted by Maria Lvova-Belova, the ombudsman for children’s rights. A half-hour documentary called This Is My Child broadcast on a nationalist TV channel last year told the story of Mr Holovnya’s removal from Mariupol, with Mrs Lvova-Belova declaring: “The moment I spoke to him I realised he’s mine: this is my child.” A few months before, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Mrs Lvova-Belova, as well as Putin, over the unlawful removal of Ukraine’s children.
www.telegraph.co.uk
Originally from the coastal city of Mariupol, Ukrainian teenager Bohdan Yermokhin was forced to live in Moscow for almost one and a half years after he and 30 other Ukrainian orphans were rounded up by Russian forces and deported against their will. Nicknamed the Mariupol 31, he and his friends had already lived through months of brutal siege, witnessing widespread death and destruction as Vladimir Putin’s forces turned their home city to rubble. Mr Yermokhin said the Russians tried to gain his trust, treating him nicely at first, but things deteriorated over time when he retained his positivity towards Ukraine – he would regularly argue with those around him and it was a constant psychological strain. The Mariupol 31 were quickly turned into a propaganda tool for Moscow to “prove” they had saved the city. Mr Yermokhin’s best friend, Pylyp Holovnya, became a poster boy for Russia’s so-called rescue missions when he was adopted by Maria Lvova-Belova, the ombudsman for children’s rights. A half-hour documentary called This Is My Child broadcast on a nationalist TV channel last year told the story of Mr Holovnya’s removal from Mariupol, with Mrs Lvova-Belova declaring: “The moment I spoke to him I realised he’s mine: this is my child.” A few months before, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Mrs Lvova-Belova, as well as Putin, over the unlawful removal of Ukraine’s children.
www.aljazeera.com
Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/12996823 Under President Xi Jinping, the Chinese government has called for “telling China’s story well” and spreading “positive energy”. Since Xi came to power in 2013, the media environment has tightened. Internet freedom has also declined. In Freedom House’s 2023 report on internet freedom around the world, China was rated “not free: with a score of only nine points out of 100, one point less than the year before. In RSF’s World Press Freedom Index, meanwhile, China fell four spots compared with 2022, ranking second to bottom and just above North Korea. More journalists are currently in jail in China than anywhere else in the world. “There has been a very clear development towards greater state control over the media in China in recent years leaving very little space for media,” Alfred Wu, a scholar of public governance in China at the National University of Singapore, told Al Jazeera. This development has also affected state media, according to Yuan at Rutger’s University. “Under the rule of President Xi Jinping, state media in China have been consolidated and aligned closer with the ideology of the CCP,” he said. "This involves regular ideological education and training, aiming to make sure that reporting reinforces Xi Jinping Thought [Xi’s ideology] and the objectives of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and this is why we are witnessing foreign staff members resigning from media outlets like [formerly more independent media company] Sixth Tone.”
www.aljazeera.com
Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/12996823 Under President Xi Jinping, the Chinese government has called for “telling China’s story well” and spreading “positive energy”. Since Xi came to power in 2013, the media environment has tightened. Internet freedom has also declined. In Freedom House’s 2023 report on internet freedom around the world, China was rated “not free: with a score of only nine points out of 100, one point less than the year before. In RSF’s World Press Freedom Index, meanwhile, China fell four spots compared with 2022, ranking second to bottom and just above North Korea. More journalists are currently in jail in China than anywhere else in the world. “There has been a very clear development towards greater state control over the media in China in recent years leaving very little space for media,” Alfred Wu, a scholar of public governance in China at the National University of Singapore, told Al Jazeera. This development has also affected state media, according to Yuan at Rutger’s University. “Under the rule of President Xi Jinping, state media in China have been consolidated and aligned closer with the ideology of the CCP,” he said. "This involves regular ideological education and training, aiming to make sure that reporting reinforces Xi Jinping Thought [Xi’s ideology] and the objectives of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and this is why we are witnessing foreign staff members resigning from media outlets like [formerly more independent media company] Sixth Tone.”
www.aljazeera.com
Under President Xi Jinping, the Chinese government has called for “telling China’s story well” and spreading “positive energy”. Since Xi came to power in 2013, the media environment has tightened. Internet freedom has also declined. In Freedom House’s 2023 report on internet freedom around the world, China was rated “not free: with a score of only nine points out of 100, one point less than the year before. In RSF’s World Press Freedom Index, meanwhile, China fell four spots compared with 2022, ranking second to bottom and just above North Korea. More journalists are currently in jail in China than anywhere else in the world. “There has been a very clear development towards greater state control over the media in China in recent years leaving very little space for media,” Alfred Wu, a scholar of public governance in China at the National University of Singapore, told Al Jazeera. This development has also affected state media, according to Yuan at Rutger’s University. “Under the rule of President Xi Jinping, state media in China have been consolidated and aligned closer with the ideology of the CCP,” he said. "This involves regular ideological education and training, aiming to make sure that reporting reinforces Xi Jinping Thought [Xi’s ideology] and the objectives of socialism with Chinese characteristics, and this is why we are witnessing foreign staff members resigning from media outlets like [formerly more independent media company] Sixth Tone.”
tardigrada Now • 100%
@Hegar
what we say in the west is generally less threatening to the power of our governments.
So, what do Chinese dissidents say that is 'threatening the power of their government so much that it justifies the unacceptable atrocities and unacceptable human rights violations they suffer?
tardigrada Now • 100%
This has nothing to do with the article nor with @some_guy's comment.
tardigrada Now • 100%
I was wondering the same, especially as the article doesn't mention any numbers or the like. But I didn't want to change the original title.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au
Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/12976581 Freely accessible [archived version](https://web.archive.org/web/20240406111847/https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/comment/topic/2024/04/06/how-it-feels-live-under-surveillance-china#mtr). "The actions of mine that were deemed treasonous [by China] involved writing about China’s concentration camps, which hold up to a million Uighurs, and forced Uighur labour that implicated global supply chains," says Vicky Xu, an Australian journalist and researcher, previously with The New York Times and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. "In the visit of Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi last month, there was positive talk of trade and bilateral relations between Australia and China but nothing about me or the many other Australian citizens and residents targeted by the Chinese state on Australian soil. I thought I’d remind people of our existence and present my point of view." "It has grown tiresome for me to recount how my life has been ruined by the Chinese state, how my family and friends were taken away as a result of my journalistic work on China. In Australia I’ve been followed around. Strange East Asian men stood in front of my apartment complex like voluntary doormen. I changed my number, got new email addresses, installed home security systems, moved again and again. Counter-surveillance has been a full-time job. As I write this, I do not have a stable home address because my current solution to the problem is leading a nomadic lifestyle to stay a step ahead of Chinese Communist Party goons. I don’t know what their plans are if and when they catch up with me again. I’m not the only China scholar who lives in fear of abduction or assassination." [Edit typo.]
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au
Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/12976581 Freely accessible [archived version](https://web.archive.org/web/20240406111847/https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/comment/topic/2024/04/06/how-it-feels-live-under-surveillance-china#mtr). "The actions of mine that were deemed treasonous [by China] involved writing about China’s concentration camps, which hold up to a million Uighurs, and forced Uighur labour that implicated global supply chains," says Vicky Xu, an Australian journalist and researcher, previously with The New York Times and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. "In the visit of Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi last month, there was positive talk of trade and bilateral relations between Australia and China but nothing about me or the many other Australian citizens and residents targeted by the Chinese state on Australian soil. I thought I’d remind people of our existence and present my point of view." "It has grown tiresome for me to recount how my life has been ruined by the Chinese state, how my family and friends were taken away as a result of my journalistic work on China. In Australia I’ve been followed around. Strange East Asian men stood in front of my apartment complex like voluntary doormen. I changed my number, got new email addresses, installed home security systems, moved again and again. Counter-surveillance has been a full-time job. As I write this, I do not have a stable home address because my current solution to the problem is leading a nomadic lifestyle to stay a step ahead of Chinese Communist Party goons. I don’t know what their plans are if and when they catch up with me again. I’m not the only China scholar who lives in fear of abduction or assassination."
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au
Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/12976581 Freely accessible [archived version](https://web.archive.org/web/20240406111847/https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/comment/topic/2024/04/06/how-it-feels-live-under-surveillance-china#mtr). "The actions of mine that were deemed treasonous [by China] involved writing about China’s concentration camps, which hold up to a million Uighurs, and forced Uighur labour that implicated global supply chains," says Vicky Xu, an Australian journalist and researcher, previously with The New York Times and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. "In the visit of Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi last month, there was positive talk of trade and bilateral relations between Australia and China but nothing about me or the many other Australian citizens and residents targeted by the Chinese state on Australian soil. I thought I’d remind people of our existence and present my point of view." "It has grown tiresome for me to recount how my life has been ruined by the Chinese state, how my family and friends were taken away as a result of my journalistic work on China. In Australia I’ve been followed around. Strange East Asian men stood in front of my apartment complex like voluntary doormen. I changed my number, got new email addresses, installed home security systems, moved again and again. Counter-surveillance has been a full-time job. As I write this, I do not have a stable home address because my current solution to the problem is leading a nomadic lifestyle to stay a step ahead of Chinese Communist Party goons. I don’t know what their plans are if and when they catch up with me again. I’m not the only China scholar who lives in fear of abduction or assassination."
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au
Freely accessible [archived version](https://web.archive.org/web/20240406111847/https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/comment/topic/2024/04/06/how-it-feels-live-under-surveillance-china#mtr). "The actions of mine that were deemed treasonous [by China] involved writing about China’s concentration camps, which hold up to a million Uighurs, and forced Uighur labour that implicated global supply chains," says Vicky Xu, an Australian journalist and researcher, previously with The New York Times and the Australian Strategic Policy Institute. "In the visit of Chinese Foreign Affairs Minister Wang Yi last month, there was positive talk of trade and bilateral relations between Australia and China but nothing about me or the many other Australian citizens and residents targeted by the Chinese state on Australian soil. I thought I’d remind people of our existence and present my point of view." "It has grown tiresome for me to recount how my life has been ruined by the Chinese state, how my family and friends were taken away as a result of my journalistic work on China. In Australia I’ve been followed around. Strange East Asian men stood in front of my apartment complex like voluntary doormen. I changed my number, got new email addresses, installed home security systems, moved again and again. Counter-surveillance has been a full-time job. As I write this, I do not have a stable home address because my current solution to the problem is leading a nomadic lifestyle to stay a step ahead of Chinese Communist Party goons. I don’t know what their plans are if and when they catch up with me again. I’m not the only China scholar who lives in fear of abduction or assassination."
Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/12976164 Finland's president on Wednesday signed a 10-year security deal with Ukraine in Kyiv where President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he believed Russia planned to mobilise 300,000 new troops for its war by June. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies, said the Ukrainian president's assertion about a new Russian mobilisation was untrue. The pact signed by President Alexander Stubb and Zelenskiy made Finland the eighth NATO member this year to commit to long-term security cooperation and defence backing for Kyiv as it battles to hold back Russian forces. Finland, which shares a 1,340-km (830-mile) border with Russia, joined NATO a year ago. Stubb said Finland would also send 188 million euros ($203 million) in additional military aid, including air defences and heavy-calibre ammunition. That sum took Finland's overall defence contribution to around 2 billion euros during the war. "We are not giving this military support only for Ukraine to defend itself, we are giving this military support for Ukraine to win this war," Stubb told a joint news conference in Kyiv.
Finland's president on Wednesday signed a 10-year security deal with Ukraine in Kyiv where President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he believed Russia planned to mobilise 300,000 new troops for its war by June. But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies, said the Ukrainian president's assertion about a new Russian mobilisation was untrue. The pact signed by President Alexander Stubb and Zelenskiy made Finland the eighth NATO member this year to commit to long-term security cooperation and defence backing for Kyiv as it battles to hold back Russian forces. Finland, which shares a 1,340-km (830-mile) border with Russia, joined NATO a year ago. Stubb said Finland would also send 188 million euros ($203 million) in additional military aid, including air defences and heavy-calibre ammunition. That sum took Finland's overall defence contribution to around 2 billion euros during the war. "We are not giving this military support only for Ukraine to defend itself, we are giving this military support for Ukraine to win this war," Stubb told a joint news conference in Kyiv.
rhg.com
Cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/12975746 Capacity utilization rates in China have declined over the past couple of years in every surveyed manufacturing sector except non-ferrous metals. Products linked to the property sector, such as plastics and non-metal minerals, are experiencing severe overcapacity because of weak demand in their downstream markets. But many other sectors are seeing declining capacity utilization, too, from machinery to food, textiles, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. But the drop in capacity utilization rates observed in the past few years is only one aspect of a more profound phenomenon that should draw equal concern for policymakers in Brussels and other economies—China’s growing domestic production surplus. Chinese companies, across a wide range of sectors, now produce far more than domestic consumption can absorb. This domestic surplus can produce low factory utilization rates. But it can also find its way into foreign markets, creating a growing trade surplus and, at times, global redundancies that threaten industrial ecosystems in other countries. Those imbalances are not new, but they have reached unprecedented levels since the pandemic.
rhg.com
Capacity utilization rates in China have declined over the past couple of years in every surveyed manufacturing sector except non-ferrous metals. Products linked to the property sector, such as plastics and non-metal minerals, are experiencing severe overcapacity because of weak demand in their downstream markets. But many other sectors are seeing declining capacity utilization, too, from machinery to food, textiles, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. But the drop in capacity utilization rates observed in the past few years is only one aspect of a more profound phenomenon that should draw equal concern for policymakers in Brussels and other economies—China’s growing domestic production surplus. Chinese companies, across a wide range of sectors, now produce far more than domestic consumption can absorb. This domestic surplus can produce low factory utilization rates. But it can also find its way into foreign markets, creating a growing trade surplus and, at times, global redundancies that threaten industrial ecosystems in other countries. Those imbalances are not new, but they have reached unprecedented levels since the pandemic.
tardigrada Now • 100%
'Everyone in the World Needs to See This': Footage Shows IDF Drone Killing Gazans
"There is no way they could have been considered combatants," said one writer and analyst. "This is unreal."
(Warning: Watching the video embedded in the article may distress users.)
tardigrada Now • 90%
Outrage! : China trains soldiers
China trains soldiers for an invasion. They appear to plan for an unprovoked aggression.
tardigrada Now • 100%
Hungary.
tardigrada Now • 100%
'Everyone in the World Needs to See This': Footage Shows IDF Drone Killing Gazans
"There is no way they could have been considered combatants," said one writer and analyst. "This is unreal."
(Warning: Watching the video embedded in the article may distress users.)
tardigrada Now • 100%
Damn, that's the kind of shit you'd expect in an American prison.
The U.S. prison system is bad as far as I read, and it may often not be what you'd expect in a democracy, but what happened to Ms. Li Yuhan is arguably much likelier in a totalitarian country where human rights don't matter.
tardigrada Now • 100%
Ben Gurion, founder of Israel, admits ...
I'm more concerned about the current government of Israel, and there is a lot wrong if you'd conduct some research.
How is a quote of a person who died in 1973 'news', let alone if the quote comes from Wikipedia citing a book published in 1978?
I'm not the mod here but that sounds strange to me.
tardigrada Now • 100%
US officials deliver warning that Chinese hackers are targeting infrastructure
Hackers linked to the Chinese government are targeting critical U.S. infrastructure, preparing to cause "real-world harm" to Americans, FBI Director Christopher Wray says.
Water treatment plants, the electric grid, oil and natural gas pipelines and transportation hubs are among the targets of state-sponsored hacking operations, he told the House of Representatives Select Committee [...]
"They're not focused just on political and military targets. We can see from where they position themselves across civilian infrastructure, that low blows aren't just a possibility in the event of conflict, low blows against civilians are part of China's plan," Wray said.
tardigrada Now • 100%
tardigrada Now • 100%
Insights into the global seafood supply chain can be found at The Outlaw Ocean if interested. [Edit typo.]
tardigrada Now • 100%
Texas wants solar energy but forced labor in China is a concern
While the deployment of affordable renewable energy is great for Texas, the broader solar supply chain is cause for concern. Unfortunately, many solar panel manufacturers are entirely reliant on cheap Chinese materials with opaque traceability and forced labor concerns in the Xinjiang province. The State Department has concluded that since Xinjiang produces 45% of the global polysilicon capacity and a significant amount of silicon metal, much of the global solar supply chain could include inputs made with forced labor from the region.
As a result, U.S. Congress passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act in late 2021, creating a rebuttable presumption that all goods, made in whole or in part, from the region contain forced labor and are thus barred from entering U.S. commerce. Customs and Border Protection is tasked with enforcing the law and Congress specifically directed CBP to target polysilicon from Xinjiang. Since enforcement began in June 2022, CBP has detained over $2 billion in goods.
tardigrada Now • 100%
Forced labor appears to have a broader meaning than slavery as far as I can understand, for example, from the ILO definition or here. But I don't know either.
tardigrada Now • 100%
Possibly not for a five-year-old, but most people have an email account, and technically this is a federated network. Tuta, Proton, Posteo, and all the others are independent networks, but they can communicate with each other (unlike Facebook, Twitter, and others which require an account on each platform for communication).
tardigrada Now • 100%
There is a related incident including a thread at https://feddit.uk/post/6966929
tardigrada Now • 100%
North Koreans Executed By Kim Regime For Violating COVID Restrictions
A new report from the Korean Institute for National Unification (KINU) provides eyewitness testimony that the Kim regime publicly executed violators of Pyongyang’s draconian COVID-19 quarantine measures.
Reports of shoot-to-kill orders for anyone attempting to cross the North Korean border during the pandemic were previously covered by NKNews in October 2020, but new testimony in the KINU report grants further credence to these dark realities.
Public executions have long been a feature of the Kim regime’s policies – ranging from public executions of Christians for being caught with a Bible to the purging of Pyongyang’s elites to tamp down on any semblance of revolutionary spirit. A 2019 report from the Transitional Justice Working Group put a finer point on the matter – of the 600 defectors interviewed, they documented “323 reports of sites of state-sanctioned killings”. According to the same report, 83 percent of North Koreans surveyed said they witnessed a public execution.
tardigrada Now • 100%
It just puzzles me that you don't know which media you trust. How do you verify then? What do you read?