Didn't play much this week.

Spent few hours on Dark Souls Remastered !

Last week I talked about how I haven't gotten stuck anywhere, and that's when I got stuck on the next boss. It was another 2 Boss at once, and that's kind of my weakness. Don't know how many times I died there, had to quit the game.

Fortunately, the solution to most such issues in Dark Souls is to just relax and play without panicking. Came back next day and defeated the boss in 2nd or 3rd try.

I should in the latter half of the game, but no idea how much is left. I know of at least 3 bosses that I have kill (narrative reasons), reached the first one and it's too strong. Checked an online guide and it suggests to come back there later, there are some other unexplored areas and I should go there first. So, doing that now, killing monsters, earning tons of souls and leveling up!

We played some Killing Floor 3 and it was okay. It wasn't great but not too bad either, but since I don't play these kind of games I have no idea what the standard is. Overall the consensus was that we won't be playing it again, so that's over now.

What about all of you? What have you been playing and/or plan to play?

BALTIMORE (AP) — Kilmar Abrego Garcia walked away after a scheduled appointment at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office on Friday to the cheers of a crowd assembled outside. A federal judge had ordered that immigration officials could not detain him.

Abrego Garcia appeared for the appointment at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office, some 14 hours after he was released from detention on a judge’s orders. His lawyers had asked the judge to block authorities from detaining him again and he walked out of the building surrounded by cheering supporters after the appearance, then left without commenting.

The German Foreign Office said Friday it summoned the Russian ambassador, Sergei Nechayev, over allegations of repeated hybrid attacks on Germany.

The move followed what officials described as mounting evidence of coordinated Russian activity aimed at undermining Germany's internal stability.

"The goal of these Russian cyber and disinformation attacks is clear: It is to divide society, stir up mistrust, provoke rejection, and weaken confidence in democratic institutions," Foreign Office spokesperson Martin Giese said.

...

The Foreign Office listed some cases that it said were perpetrated by Moscow.

In one instance, Giese said, a cyberattack against Germany's air traffic control authority in August 2024 could be clearly attributed to the Russian hacker group "Fancy Bear."

...

In another case, Berlin claimed it was now certain that Russia attempted to influence the most recent general election. According to Germany, this was done through the propagandist group "Storm 1516,” which creates and spreads online disinformation to further the interests of the Russian government.

...

Two days before the early federal election in February, the government said security agencies had identified fake videos alleging ballot manipulation as part of a Russian disinformation effort.

...

Russia is accused of various acts of hybrid warfare — actions that fall below the threshold of open military conflict but are designed to weaken states politically. They include:

• Hacking government ministries, parliaments, and defense institutions
• Targeting critical infrastructure such as energy grids, transport systems and air traffic control
• Spreading disinformation during election campaigns
• Amplifying fake stories or manipulated content via social media
• Using bot networks and troll farms to influence voter sentiment
• Targeting specific candidates seen as unfavorable to Moscow
• Acts of sabotage against railways, cables, pipelines, or military logistics
• Surveillance or targeting of infrastructure linked to Ukraine support
• Encouraging or facilitating irregular migration toward EU border

...

Cross posted from: https://lemmy.nocturnal.garden/post/407947

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/43508884

Web archive link

A high-profile Hong Kong pro-democracy activist living in the UK has been the target of a harassment campaign involving letters containing fake, sexually explicit images of her sent to her neighbours.

Carmen Lau, 30, told the BBC she was "shocked" as the letters, delivered to addresses in Maidenhead from China, included her name and images made to look like she was either naked or in underwear and offering sexual services.

"The letters had a couple of very unpleasant images, AI-generated or photo-shopped... portraying me as a sex worker," she said.

Ms Lau is among thousands of Hong Kong residents to seek sanctuary in the UK following the imposition of a controversial new national security law.

The city had been a British colony until 1997, when it was handed to China on the proviso it retained its democratic autonomy for the following 50 years.

...

Ms Lau moved to the UK in 2021 and has continued her advocacy work, frequently criticising China's Communist leadership and speaking out about China's controversial plans to build a "mega embassy" in London, warning that it could become a base for trans-national repression of China's critics abroad.

...

"When I was in Hong Kong, pro-Beijing agents were trained to use gender-based harassment targeting pro-democracy activists," she said.

"But AI technology has enhanced this sort of intimidation. It is beyond just transnational repression - as a woman, it is very worrying."

Last year, up to a dozen of the same neighbours in Berkshire had received letters sent from Hong Kong, purporting to come from the police, offering a bounty payment of £95,000 to anyone who would hand Ms Lau over to the Chinese embassy in London.

The new letters - the existence of which was first reported by the Guardian - were sent last month from the Chinese territory of Macau, close to Hong Kong.

Another activist, Ted Hui, and his wife, who now live in Australia, have also been targeted with similar letters, the newspaper reports.

...

Reynolds told the BBC that the government needed "to be very clear that this is not acceptable, we cannot have these letters sent to UK residents".

"We need to find out who sent these letters," he said, adding: "Officials in Beijing need to be held accountable."

Reynolds said he had raised the issue with both the Home Office and the Foreign Office.

A government spokesperson said: "The safety and security of Hong Kongers in the United Kingdom is of the utmost importance."

Thames Valley Police, meanwhile, said it was investigating reports of a malicious communications offence involving digitally altered images.

"We are engaging with the victim and, at this time, no arrests have been made," a spokesperson said.

...

The UK government has previously insisted that any attempt by a foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities would not be tolerated.

It has said the UK continues to raise concerns about transnational repression directly with the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities, and has publicly condemned the issuing of arrest warrants and bounties by the Hong Kong Police Force.

...

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/43508884

Web archive link

A high-profile Hong Kong pro-democracy activist living in the UK has been the target of a harassment campaign involving letters containing fake, sexually explicit images of her sent to her neighbours.

Carmen Lau, 30, told the BBC she was "shocked" as the letters, delivered to addresses in Maidenhead from China, included her name and images made to look like she was either naked or in underwear and offering sexual services.

"The letters had a couple of very unpleasant images, AI-generated or photo-shopped... portraying me as a sex worker," she said.

Ms Lau is among thousands of Hong Kong residents to seek sanctuary in the UK following the imposition of a controversial new national security law.

The city had been a British colony until 1997, when it was handed to China on the proviso it retained its democratic autonomy for the following 50 years.

...

Ms Lau moved to the UK in 2021 and has continued her advocacy work, frequently criticising China's Communist leadership and speaking out about China's controversial plans to build a "mega embassy" in London, warning that it could become a base for trans-national repression of China's critics abroad.

...

"When I was in Hong Kong, pro-Beijing agents were trained to use gender-based harassment targeting pro-democracy activists," she said.

"But AI technology has enhanced this sort of intimidation. It is beyond just transnational repression - as a woman, it is very worrying."

Last year, up to a dozen of the same neighbours in Berkshire had received letters sent from Hong Kong, purporting to come from the police, offering a bounty payment of £95,000 to anyone who would hand Ms Lau over to the Chinese embassy in London.

The new letters - the existence of which was first reported by the Guardian - were sent last month from the Chinese territory of Macau, close to Hong Kong.

Another activist, Ted Hui, and his wife, who now live in Australia, have also been targeted with similar letters, the newspaper reports.

...

Reynolds told the BBC that the government needed "to be very clear that this is not acceptable, we cannot have these letters sent to UK residents".

"We need to find out who sent these letters," he said, adding: "Officials in Beijing need to be held accountable."

Reynolds said he had raised the issue with both the Home Office and the Foreign Office.

A government spokesperson said: "The safety and security of Hong Kongers in the United Kingdom is of the utmost importance."

Thames Valley Police, meanwhile, said it was investigating reports of a malicious communications offence involving digitally altered images.

"We are engaging with the victim and, at this time, no arrests have been made," a spokesperson said.

...

The UK government has previously insisted that any attempt by a foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities would not be tolerated.

It has said the UK continues to raise concerns about transnational repression directly with the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities, and has publicly condemned the issuing of arrest warrants and bounties by the Hong Kong Police Force.

...

cross-posted from: https://mander.xyz/post/43508565

Archive link

...

The scale of the imbalances with the European Union was thrown into stark relief days ago when Beijing disclosed its trade surplus with the bloc had widened to a record approaching $300 billion in 2025. The value of China’s exports to the EU is now more than double its imports, as Chinese sellers divert goods facing levies in the US.

...

“The China shock in Europe is really starting to hit,” said Andrew Small, director of the Asia program at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “What you’ve now had in recent months has been much greater levels of urgency, not all of it playing out in public, but serious crisis meetings taking place.”

The result could be the biggest rethink of EU policy toward Beijing in at least a decade, according to Small, who previously advised von der Leyen on China. Sidetracked for years by the war in Ukraine and, more recently, by Donald Trump’s tariffs, the EU is finally focusing on China, preparing what Small describes as a “pent-up” mix of measures.

...

The bloc unveiled a plan earlier this month to ensure its industries aren’t overtaken by global rivals, as competition intensifies with the US and China. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has also proposed setting up an economic security hub to better navigate trade tensions and counter the threat of cheap products flooding the bloc’s single market.

...

Time is short for Europe. Economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc estimate competition from Chinese exports will cut gains in German, Spanish and Italian gross domestic product by 0.2 percentage point or more from next year through 2029.

The fallout from China’s exports might extend to almost a third of euro-area employment, according to economists at the European Central Bank, meaning it could possibly affect more than 50 million jobs.

...

“External hostility toward goods exported by China will escalate, particularly in Europe,” said Stephen Jen, chief executive of London-based hedge fund Eurizon SLJ Capital. “This configuration of explosive trade and a cheap renminbi cannot be sustained.”

For China, there is little alternative. The EU’s $20 trillion economy is among the few markets big enough to absorb the goods it used to ship to the US.

...

Propelling its exports is a currency undervalued in the view of many economists, making exports cheaper and imports more expensive. The yuan hit a decade low against the euro earlier this year.

“One of the real reasons that Chinese exports are going so fast is that the renminbi is very significantly undervalued relative to the euro,” said EU Chamber of Commerce in China President Jens Eskelund, using an alternative name for the currency. This acts as a “subsidy” for exports and suppresses Chinese consumers’ purchasing power, he said.

...

China is now taking 7% of EU exports but supplying almost a quarter of all imports from outside the bloc. China’s deficit with the EU and the UK now accounts for nearly a third of its total trade differential with the world, which exceeded $1 trillion for the first time.

...

In 2019, China ran a $25 billion deficit with Europe’s biggest economy. In the first 11 months of this year, that’s flipped to a $23 billion surplus due to the collapse in imports.

...

As pressure builds to mount a response, countries could “not only use existing trade tools, like anti-dumping duties, but also develop new tools and approaches for addressing what is turning into a serious and unsustainable situation,” said Wendy Cutler, a former senior US trade negotiator now at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

“We could see the EU and others take further measures to limit Chinese imports during the coming year,” she said.

Archive link

...

The scale of the imbalances with the European Union was thrown into stark relief days ago when Beijing disclosed its trade surplus with the bloc had widened to a record approaching $300 billion in 2025. The value of China’s exports to the EU is now more than double its imports, as Chinese sellers divert goods facing levies in the US.

...

“The China shock in Europe is really starting to hit,” said Andrew Small, director of the Asia program at the European Council on Foreign Relations. “What you’ve now had in recent months has been much greater levels of urgency, not all of it playing out in public, but serious crisis meetings taking place.”

The result could be the biggest rethink of EU policy toward Beijing in at least a decade, according to Small, who previously advised von der Leyen on China. Sidetracked for years by the war in Ukraine and, more recently, by Donald Trump’s tariffs, the EU is finally focusing on China, preparing what Small describes as a “pent-up” mix of measures.

...

The bloc unveiled a plan earlier this month to ensure its industries aren’t overtaken by global rivals, as competition intensifies with the US and China. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, has also proposed setting up an economic security hub to better navigate trade tensions and counter the threat of cheap products flooding the bloc’s single market.

...

Time is short for Europe. Economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc estimate competition from Chinese exports will cut gains in German, Spanish and Italian gross domestic product by 0.2 percentage point or more from next year through 2029.

The fallout from China’s exports might extend to almost a third of euro-area employment, according to economists at the European Central Bank, meaning it could possibly affect more than 50 million jobs.

...

“External hostility toward goods exported by China will escalate, particularly in Europe,” said Stephen Jen, chief executive of London-based hedge fund Eurizon SLJ Capital. “This configuration of explosive trade and a cheap renminbi cannot be sustained.”

For China, there is little alternative. The EU’s $20 trillion economy is among the few markets big enough to absorb the goods it used to ship to the US.

...

Propelling its exports is a currency undervalued in the view of many economists, making exports cheaper and imports more expensive. The yuan hit a decade low against the euro earlier this year.

“One of the real reasons that Chinese exports are going so fast is that the renminbi is very significantly undervalued relative to the euro,” said EU Chamber of Commerce in China President Jens Eskelund, using an alternative name for the currency. This acts as a “subsidy” for exports and suppresses Chinese consumers’ purchasing power, he said.

...

China is now taking 7% of EU exports but supplying almost a quarter of all imports from outside the bloc. China’s deficit with the EU and the UK now accounts for nearly a third of its total trade differential with the world, which exceeded $1 trillion for the first time.

...

In 2019, China ran a $25 billion deficit with Europe’s biggest economy. In the first 11 months of this year, that’s flipped to a $23 billion surplus due to the collapse in imports.

...

As pressure builds to mount a response, countries could “not only use existing trade tools, like anti-dumping duties, but also develop new tools and approaches for addressing what is turning into a serious and unsustainable situation,” said Wendy Cutler, a former senior US trade negotiator now at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

“We could see the EU and others take further measures to limit Chinese imports during the coming year,” she said.

The Koralm railway connects the Austrian cities of Graz and Klagenfurt. It is 126 km long and designed for a maximum speed of 250 km/h. Centerpiece is the 33 km long Koralmtunnel. It has two tunnels, which are covered by the Koralpe mountain range at a height of up to 1,200 meters. Construction started in 1999 and the line will open on 14. December 2025.

The cargo ships involved are the "Lauga", "HAV Dolphin" and "HAV Snapper". The vessels were caught with drones circling over them and showing most unusual movements.

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani denied abandoning his beloved Democratic Socialists of America comrades Thursday, amid fury from the far-left group over his endorsements in congressional races.

Mamdani defended his allegiance to the NYC-DSA when pressed over criticism from members about him backing City Comptroller Brad Lander over the group’s pick: Council Member Alexa Avilés, in the Democratic primary for the NY-10 race.

Many DSA members saw red, launching a social media firestorm Wednesday over Mamdani’s endorsement of Lander, who announced a primary challenge to incumbent Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman for the Manhattan House seat.

“I’m so beyond disappointed in zohran for backing lander and sidestepping the organization that got him elected,” wrote David-Desyrée, who sits on the NYC-DSA Citywide Leadership Committee.

Serbia 🇷🇸 as an emerging "autonomous ecosystem" for the assembly, modification and remanufacturing of Chinese 🇨🇳 drones for the Sudan 🇸🇩 conflict via UAE 🇦🇪:

Africa Intelligence revealed a complex UCAV supply chain in Sudan 🇸🇩, after the analysis of the rest of a drone used by the RSF in December 2024. The drones used by the RSF, identified as CH-92/CH-95 🇨🇳 models, were not simply Chinese-made: they show clear signs of assembly, modification, or partial re-manufacturing inside Serbia 🇷🇸.

Serial numbers, hardpoint markings first seen at Serbia’s 🇷🇸 2023 Military Show, 2023-dated parts, and Czech 🇨🇿 Woodcomp propellers all indicate integration work outside China 🇨🇳.

Africa Intelligence reports that these UCAVs were assembled in Serbia 🇷🇸, then routed through the UAE 🇦🇪 before being moved via Libya 🇱🇾 or Kenya 🇰🇪 and delivered to the RSF through Nyala airport, Sudan 🇸🇩.

This chain suggests a covert network enabling advanced UCAVs that shifted the battlefield balance in El-Fasher and Babnousa, causing devastating strikes.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/47167958

Archived

At least two fistfights broke out last week between [Temu parent company] PDD Holdings Inc. employees and Chinese regulators who were performing checks at the e-commerce company’s Shanghai premises, according to people familiar with the matter.

The altercations involved PDD staff and officials from the State Administration for Market Regulation, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing a sensitive issue. The SAMR [stands for State Administration for Market Regulation in China] officials were investigating reports of fraudulent deliveries on PDD’s platform, the people said, adding that police made several arrests in the aftermath.

While details of how the fights began weren’t immediately clear, the episode may trigger investor concern about increased regulatory scrutiny of PDD. It’s unheard of for interactions between large Chinese companies and regulators to descend into physical confrontations, even as tensions often run high between the two sides.

The SAMR, an agency with sweeping powers to investigate industries from technology to energy, led a high-profile antitrust probe against Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. in 2020 that culminated in a sector-wide clampdown. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government has since made a concerted push to show its support for the private sector, including in a meeting between Xi and entrepreneurs such as Alibaba’s Jack Ma in February.

...

PDD, better-known as the creator of Temu and the Pinduoduo Chinese e-commerce platform, competes directly with Alibaba and JD.com domestically. Abroad, it’s known as an aggressive online retailer that, along with Shein, has ambitions to become a major player in the US and Europe.

PDD’s rapid growth has drawn regulatory attention not just at home.

Temu’s European headquarters in Dublin were raided by European Union competition watchdogs, amid suspicions the Chinese e-commerce giant may have received unfair subsidies from Beijing. Those unannounced inspections took place last week, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke under condition of anonymity.

PDD just last month warned of a slowdown in an intensively competitive Chinese consumption environment, reflecting an escalating battle in online commerce.

Brave has introduced a new AI browsing feature that leverages Leo, its privacy-respecting AI assistant, to perform automated tasks for the user.