Courtesy of comrade @PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml

The critically acclaimed System Shock remake is AVAILABLE NOW on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 with Joy-Con 2 mouse support, gyro aiming, and community feedback-inspired features!

President Lula has indicated he will veto legislation but conservative lawmakers likely to overturn his decision

Brazil’s congress has approved a bill to reduce the prison term of Jair Bolsonaro, the former president who was sentenced to more than 27 years in prison for masterminding an attempted coup to overturn the 2022 elections.

Approved last week by the lower house and late on Wednesday by the senate, the bill now goes to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has 15 working days to sign or veto it.

Brazil’s leftist president – who, investigations showed, was the target of an assassination plan as part of the coup plot – has already indicated he is likely to veto the bill, but that decision would probably be overturned afterwards by the largely conservative congress.

Apple announced it will allow alternative app stores in Japan and will permit developers to process payments for digital goods and services outside of its own in-app purchase system in iOS. The iPhone maker is not making these changes because it wants to be more open; it’s being forced — in this case, to comply with the country’s Mobile Software Competition Act (MSCA), which is now going into effect.

With this update, Apple’s App Store revenues are being impacted in another major market due to anticompetition laws and regulations. The company already has to comply with Europe’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which previously required the tech giant to allow for alternative app stores and other changes.

Lawmakers across Latin America are joining global efforts to rein in ultrafast fashion.

Archived

[...]

Chinese online marketplaces like Shein and Temu [and their] flood of ultracheap clothing has upended Latin American retail.

In response, Argentina has joined the growing global backlash against ultrafast fashion and legislative efforts to contain it. The country’s textile industry is pushing for an “anti-Shein” bill that would impose import controls and apply a flat 30% customs duty levy on e-commerce parcels to shield local manufacturers from cheap Chinese imports — a push that has gained cross-party support. Textile trade groups in Brazil and Mexico are coordinating similar efforts as part of a wider regional response.

“We’re not afraid to compete — but it has to be on equal terms,” said [the owner of a textile family buiness Luciano] Galfione, who is also the president of the ProTejer trade association. “When I sell a T-shirt online from my factory, I pay every tax imaginable. Shein sells the same way and pays none.”

[...]

Countries around the world are pushing back in an effort to protect their own textile industries. In October, the French Senate passed a bill that will sanction Asian fast fashion companies by scoring their environmental impact. Last year, Indonesia lowered the threshold below which goods are exempt from import duties from $100 to $3, while South Africa began taxing small parcels under $27. In August, the U.S. scrapped its $800 duty-free exemption, meaning even the smallest imports now face tariffs.

Governments across Latin America are also moving to shield domestic industries, which are highly labor-intensive and especially vulnerable to foreign competition. Mexico recently raised tariffs on small packages from China to 33.5%, while Chile is moving toward applying a 19% value-added tax on low-cost imports. Ecuador began implementing a $20 fee on small packages in June.

[...]

In Argentina, where textile output has plunged more than 20% in the past year as cheap imports surged, industry leaders are pushing for Shein and Temu imports to undergo inspections verifying that fabrics are non-toxic and environmentally safe. Under the proposed bill, the garments would be subject to standard import duties and taxes. The proposal mirrors France’s new ultrafast fashion law, which adds a progressive “eco tax” and requires labels to disclose key environmental information. Shein, for its part, denies qualifying as fast fashion.

[...]

Until recently, Shein wasn’t even an option in Argentina. The country’s textile and apparel industry — alongside footwear and automobiles — was for decades shielded by tariffs of up to 35% and complex import rules, a policy intended to protect nearly 300,000 local jobs. But these measures also kept prices among the highest in the world, and more than 35% above the Latin American average.

That changed in 2024, when President Javier Milei rolled back restrictions, cut tariffs to 20%, scrapped licenses, and raised the duty-free limit for door-to-door imports to $400 per package, from $50. The move unleashed a flood of online deliveries — dazzling consumers who had long been resigned to exorbitant prices, but enraging local textile makers who say the playing field is now anything but level.

“Opening the economy cannot mean making it precarious,” a press release from Argentina’s Apparel Chamber said.

[...]

There are also other concerns. Studies show that many garments from ultrafast fashion brands like Shein are worn only a handful of times before being discarded. Investigations have revealed grueling labor conditions in supplier factories and risks of significant environmental damage tied to ultracheap production.

[...]

https://www.oglaf.com/1dad/

Developers of apps that use end-to-end encryption to protect private communications could be considered hostile actors in the UK.

Before the blood had dried, the deadliest attack on Australian Jews was being used to justify repressing Palestine solidarity and retribution against Muslims.

Trailer has spoilers for first game ending, so linking to announcement post instead of trailer directly.

Coming in 2026.

Why do I always have to flip it 10 times before plugging in

China opposed what it said was "unilateral bullying" after Washington ordered a blockade of sanctioned tankers entering and leaving oil-rich Venezuela, but did not say exactly how it would come to the South American country's aid or offer any refuge for its embattled leader.

Earlier this week, Donald Trump ordered a complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers attempting to leave Venezuelan waters, and those arriving, as Washington massed troops and warships in the region.

China is the biggest buyer of Venezuelan crude, which accounts for roughly 4% of its imports, with shipments in December on track to average more than 600,000 barrels per day, analysts have said.

Right wing media and think tanks consistently blitz the news and press when tax increases are discussed, threatened or, in the recnent instance of Mamdani, the new more progressive mayor of NY, that progressive taxation policy drives the rich to leave.

I wanted to share this article about the UK media outlets misleading, inaccurate and over representation of coverage here of the identical issue as the same schlock fear mongering without any data is done there as in the US. I assume the playbook is the same in Canada, Australia and elsewhere but would be interested to hear from those better informed.

Coordinated, well funded attacks on critical democratic infrastructure are not coincidence globally, they are the playbook.

cross-posted from: https://leminal.space/post/29858954

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Archive/non-paywall link.

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