Archived

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles has refused to say if Chinese warships were “targeting our cities” when they carried out exercises off Australia’s vast coast earlier this year.

The Australian Defence Force revealed in February it was tracking two People’s Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) frigates and a replenishment vessel in the Coral Sea, off Queensland.

They passed within 150 nautical miles (278km) east of Sydney as they moved south and conducted live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea without notifying Canberra or air traffic controllers.

The Albanese government has kept tight-lipped on what the Chinese flotilla’s mission was, even amid fears AUKUS could be on the rocks, Australia trailing its allies in defence spending and warnings Beijing poses an “imminent” threat to the region.

[...]

Things are heating up. Millions of people are taking to the streets against Trump's rising authoritarianism. Communities around the US are organizing to defend against ICE raids, to protest Israeli genocide, for mutual aid, and for other forms of fighting fascism. Signal can help people safely organize in all of these contexts.

Alaa M accused of torturing detainees at military hospitals during Syrian civil war under former ruler Bashar al-Assad

A Syrian doctor has been sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity in his home country – including murder and torture – by a German court.

The 40-year-old man, whose identity was only disclosed as Alaa M, worked as a junior doctor in an army hospital and a military intelligence prison in Homs and Damascus in Syria, in 2011 and 2012, in the early phase of the civil war.

He abused prisoners accused of being members of the opposition and who were considered enemies of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad who had participated in the uprisings against the regime during the Arab spring. He was convicted by the court in Frankfurt am Main of two deaths and eight cases of severe torture.

Many bug repellant are just a mix of artificial fragance/essential oils whose smell repell bugs.

Let's take the example of lemongrass against mosquitoes. How does-it work ? Does it cancel out the human flesh smell making you invisible for the mosquito ? Or does it smell so bad for the mosquito that they run away ?

Archived

Director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, has claimed that Ukraine and the United Kingdom are allegedly preparing acts of sabotage in the Baltic Sea. It is another disinformation campaign from the Kremlin, according to Andriy Kovalenko, head of Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council.

"Ukraine, together with the British, is preparing provocations in the Baltic Sea. One of the scenarios involves staging a fake Russian torpedo attack on a US Navy ship," Naryshkin said.

However, Kovalenko dismissed these claims as false.

"Naryshkin from the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service keeps doing the only thing he knows - fabricating nonsense. This time, he invented a fake story about Ukraine and the UK preparing sabotage operations in the Baltic Sea. And this is the same Naryshkin who organized cable sabotage against NATO using ships of the tanker fleet," he said.

[...]

"So now Naryshkin comes up with nonsense and provocations to win favor with Putin. Only Russia is capable of planning sabotage in the Baltic, as it has done before," the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation notes.

[...]

On December 25 of last year, it was reported that underwater communication cables between Estonia and Finland had been damaged.

Arto Pahkin, a representative of Finnish electricity transmission system operator Fingrid, noted that two vessels were in the area at the time the connection was severed.

Later, it emerged that Finnish authorities were investigating an oil tanker suspected of being part of Russia's so-called shadow fleet.

According to media reports, by stopping the Russian shadow fleet tanker, Finland may have prevented several more serious sabotage operations.

[...]

cross-posted from: https://lemmings.world/post/28508635

cross-posted from: https://lemmings.world/post/28508090

This is my blog about my experience at the first Fort Walton Beach, Florida (FWB) No Kings Day celebration. I heard about it from my dad, who mentioned going out there on a Saturday just to see if anyone showed up. I was surprised by the turnout, roughly 200 people showed up in this deep red area, and it was fun. I assume it’s how people feel attending concerts.

By the way, I’m not sure whether to call it a celebration, protest, or demonstration.

Preface: I didn’t prepare much. I brought a folding stool, a Palestinian flag, a painter's mask, and shooter earmuffs. I showed up over an hour late. Luckily, there were people handing out water and signs. Of course, the cops were present. I’ll link the only news coverage on the FWB event to provide more context. I wasn’t interviewed. FWB News Coverage

Part 1: The Assembly in the Park

When I arrived at the park where the celebration started, I recorded someone who looked like local PD, just in case they were aggressive (they weren’t, and nothing came of it). As I listened to the organizers give their instructions, I set up my protest attire by pulling out my Palestinian flag, still in its wrapping. I zip-tied one end to my backpack so I could grab another corner to hold it up like an ad-hoc flagstaff, allowing the flag to hang next to me. I never put on the painter's mask.

When I displayed the flag, another attendee with a flag complimented us on our willingness to be there (of course, I was still overwhelmed and excited to be in public).

As the crowd gathered, I walked around looking at kiosks, people, and signs. Among the more interesting attendees was a small group of Trump supporters, about five people (the reporter said one, but I can confirm two since I saw two holding the same flag), a topless lady with googly eyes over her nipples, and some people holding the trans flag. I visited a kiosk that was handing out "No Kings" signs (about 1' by 2', painted on one side) and asked if he had a trash can, giving him a plastic coat hanger. The first thing I did with the "No Kings" sign was place it next to the Trump supporters' sign that read "Trump is Your King" (approximation) and then moved away, telling those who saw, "You have to have fun at these events." I took a few pictures and videos of the event to read the signs after the celebration was over. Yes, I unintentionally got the topless lady in frame but didn’t get a clear picture of the googly eyes.

Before the march started, I saw an older white man holding a Trump flag. I approached him, wearing my Palestinian flag, and commented, "It must suck to have your political opinion in a crowd that disagrees with you." The older gentleman muttered and walked away to help someone who dropped something. As he did that, I thanked him for looking out for the protesters. I did this to signal to him that he’s not the only one with a hated and unpopular position. Maybe he will consider that his devotion to Trump is comparable to my stance on Palestine.

Part 2: The March (The Interesting Part)

I will preface this by saying that my car said it was 91°F (32.8°C) with 70% humidity and clear skies, so I can blame how I acted and why I waited to write this blog on that.

I came alone to the celebration, making it easy to find a spot next to people. The route of the demonstration was along the sidewalks on Highway 98 (I can affirm this is a major part of the county because it’s the primary way to move east-west).

The first people I walked with asked about my flag, thinking it was a Jordanian flag. I blurted out that it was Palestinian and mentioned that there is a Palestinian state in Jordan that was attacked by Israel in the '70s. As I walked with them, car drivers were handing out bottles of water, and some had decorated their cars with Trump paraphernalia.

Later on, I saw a man in his 30s holding the same Trump flag participating in the march. I audibly muttered, "I can be a troll," and got in front of him to hide his flag with the flag of true heroes who died saving babies from rubble—Palestine. The Trump supporter calmly approached me to talk about Palestine, claiming he had intel on the conflict and that I could ask him any questions. I affirmed that I had no questions. I pointed out that conversations about the Israeli genocide often lead straight to Hamas, and I never commented on it. The points I remember making are that baby rape is bad and that Israel is wrong for rounding up children and abusing them in concentration camps (in response to him saying Palestine or Hamas rapes babies), and that Israel is wrong for intentionally shooting babies. I mentioned that I’m an atheist but can stand with Palestinian Christians, Jews, and Muslims being slaughtered by Israel. I asked how I felt about a new government in Palestine, and I told him I’d have to research it, but it would be like here if Democrats or Republicans came into power—things would still suck; they’re "two flavors of shit," and Trump works for oligarchs. Eventually, he backed off to end the conversation.

I fell behind because my backpack fell apart, and other protesters helped me collect my stuff. People assured me that I should take my portable stool with me for the rest of the march. The cops told me to pick it up, so I blamed the heat for leaving it behind and picked it up. This put me next to an awesome older lady carrying her oxygen concentrator and her sign through the march. She commented on the topless lady with googly eyes as something indecent and objectionable. In my honesty, I said, "I found it hilarious." Later, she said, "That is gay," and I sat there confused. She later confirmed that was about Valimont, the Democrat who ran against Matt Gaetz, known for a sex trafficking scandal and who lost.

As we approached the crosswalk, the police put their vehicle in the intersection so we could cross. As I crossed, I thanked the cop for their service, which made them pause mid-order. I heard protesters behind me also thank the police. Of course, this is controversial, but I thanked the cops to make them more sympathetic to left-wing movements so they wouldn’t throw tear gas at a later protest. I was at a BLM protest in Beavercreek, Ohio, where we got gassed, and they pulled out shields and batons, surrounding us. I wouldn’t mind getting more leeway for leftist movements from the police.

I found someone wearing a red cross and said, "Always good to see first aid" (of course, I meant first responders). The awesome lady went as far as she could but complained about the heat. I offered her my stool and made sure she was okay. Other protesters and I fanned her down using our signs to provide shade. She asked one of the policemen to escort her across the highway to her car. Later, I heard there was a medical emergency and even saw an ambulance on the highway. I continued with the protest because I believe the people around are capable of helping.

I had fun with hecklers, like the teens making sounds, and I asked them for their best goat sounds. Goat Sounds. Another heckler shouted, "Viva la Mexico!" and I repeated, "Viva la Mexico!" because "Viva la Mexico" is a great phrase to live by. Then I was told not to engage with hecklers.

Someone told me to go back to Palestine, and I reaffirmed, "I still stand with Palestine."

The Trump supporter was getting pushback from people who didn’t want him there. I stated my position that we can be inclusive and that "he's fine." When he mentioned our conversation, I told everyone that I told him, "I oppose the Israeli genocide."

Part 3: Rally and Returning to My Car

When we finished the loop, there was a rally by the local Democrat running for office. I stood to show off the Palestinian flag (as much as the heat sucks, Palestinians have it worse) and called on my current Republican House representative to protect Medicare and Medicaid, following the rally's instructions before leaving. Someone from Food Not Bombs approached me during the rally to fix my flag so it wasn’t in my hat. I assured them that I was experimenting with different placements and that they could use their discretion; that’s why the flag was like a cape. I made sure the Palestinian flag was in the shot of any camera I saw.

Luckily, I saw that awesome lady one last time, and she confirmed she was alright. I told her I was worried about her since I heard there was a medical emergency.

The heat really started to get to me, and I forgot where I parked my car (it’s like trying to find where you parked at Walmart but you’re more exhausted). I rested for a minute before placing my sign next to a chain-link fence next to the highway and returned to my car.

Here is the full study (pdf, 319 pages)

Here is the executive summary (pdf, 17 pages)

TLDR:

• CETA has effectively eliminated duties for 98.6% of all Canadian tariff lines and for 98.7% of EU tariff lines. As a result, the simple average EU tariff on Canadian exports decreased from 5.1% to almost zero, while the Canadian tariff on EU exports declined from 4.2% to nearly zero
• Bilateral trade in goods and services between the EU and Canada has increased from €64 bn to €72 bn in the pre-CETA period (2012-2016), representing a 12.5% increase
• During the post-CETA period (2017-2023), total bilateral trade increased by 71%, from €72 bn in 2016 to €123 bn in 2023, despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020
• When considering the increase in bilateral trade from 2016 (the year before CETA came into effect) to 2023, the total bilateral trade in goods increased by 65.0%, while total bilateral trade in services increased by 81% in the same time perio- CETA has effectively eliminated duties for 98.6% of all Canadian tariff lines and for 98.7% of EU tariff lines. As a result, the simple average EU tariff on Canadian exports decreased from 5.1% to almost zero, while the Canadian tariff on EU exports declined from 4.2% to nearly zero.
• Bilateral trade in goods and services between the EU and Canada has increased from €64 bn to €72 bn in the pre-CETA period (2012-2016), representing a 12.5% increase.

Original question by @SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone

Turki al-Jasser, a prominent Saudi journalist who highlighted corruption, women’s rights and the Palestinian cause in his writing, was executed in Saudi Arabia on Saturday after the kingdom’s top court upheld his death sentence, the Saudi Interior Ministry announced on X.

Saudi authorities raided Jasser’s home in March 2018, seizing his electronic devices and arresting him. He was later convicted of terrorism and treason.

But campaigners have long held that he was imprisoned because authorities believed he was running a Twitter account which reported on corruption and human rights violations by those in power, including the Saudi royal family.

Al-Jasser's supporters and advocates said his execution, committed while world attention was on Israel’s attacks on Iran, demonstrated once again that criticism of the authorities in Saudi Arabia would not be tolerated.

They also drew parallels between Jasser’s execution and the 2018 murder of Jamal Khashoggi, another prominent Saudi journalist, who was dismembered by a Saudi murder squad in the kingdom’s embassy in Istanbul.

Archived

Despite public condemnations, the European Union’s response to Beijing’s repressive tactics against dissidents beyond China’s borders remains ineffective and lacks coordination, according to a survey of 10 EU governments conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and its media partners, alongside interviews with European lawmakers.

Since 2023, the European Parliament has recognized transnational repression as a growing threat to human rights and the rule of law, and called on member states to facilitate reporting, investigate allegations and sanction the perpetrators.

But China Targets, an investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and 42 media partners, found that the Chinese government continues to target Chinese and Hong Kong dissidents as well as Uyghur and Tibetan advocates using surveillance, hacking and threats against them and their family members in an effort to quash any criticism of the regime.

[...]

"The EU must set clear red lines, backed by criminal investigations, sanctions, and diplomatic consequences, to show that fundamental rights are not negotiable," says Hannah Neumann, European Parliament member.

[...]

Most of the targets interviewed by ICIJ and its partners said they had not reported state-sponsored threats to the authorities in their adopted countries for fear of retaliation from China or because they didn’t have faith in local authorities’ ability to help. Of those who had filed a report — including Nurya Zyden, a Uyghur rights advocate who said she was followed by two Chinese men from Dublin, where she lives, to an activist gathering in Sarajevo, Bosnia, last year — most said police did not follow up on their case or told them that they couldn’t do anything because there was no evidence of a crime.

[...]

Despite having sent “important political signals” through pronouncements and public condemnations, the EU’s response remains “fragmented” and “urgently” needs strengthening, said Hannah Neumann, a European lawmaker who led a 2023 report for the European Parliament on authoritarian regimes’ threats against human rights defenders.

[...]

“Currently, information on cross-border repression is scattered among local law enforcement authorities and is poorly coordinated,” says [Engin] Eroglu [who leads the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with China and was himself one of several politicians targeted by a sophisticated cyberattack allegedly linked to the Chinese government]. “Without cooperation between authorities, it is very difficult to determine the severity of cross-border repression measures, as these measures alone often do not violate local law.”

[...]

A spokesperson for the Belgian ministry of foreign affairs told ICIJ partner De Tijd that Belgian intelligence services, which are in contact with civil society organizations, have “insight into the general trends” of transnational repression in the country and that in recent years, “the intensity of the campaigns seems to have increased.”

According to EU Parliament member Eroglu, better information-sharing among member states is essential.

Link to study

Climate change has tripled the frequency of atmospheric wave events linked to extreme summer weather in the last 75 years and that may explain why long-range computer forecasts keep underestimating the surge in killer heat waves, droughts and floods, a new study says.

In the 1950s, Earth averaged about one extreme weather-inducing planetary wave event a summer, but now it is getting about three per summer, according to a study in Monday’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Planetary waves are connected to 2021’s deadly and unprecedented Pacific Northwest heat wave, the 2010 Russian heatwave and Pakistan flooding and the 2003 killer European heatwave, the study said.

Planetary waves flow across Earth all the time, but sometimes they get amplified, becoming stronger, and the jet stream gets wavier with bigger hills and valleys, Mann said. It’s called quasi-resonant amplification or QRA.

This was not inevitable. This is a war Israel chose. It could have been prevented. Diplomatic talks were ongoing when the bombers took off for Iran. Israel’s continuing, illegal, unjustified airstrikes are unlikely to achieve their stated aim – permanently ending Tehran’s presumed efforts to build nuclear weapons – and may accelerate it. They must stop now. Likewise, Iran must halt its retaliation immediately and drop its escalatory threats to attack US and UK bases.

This conflict is not limited, as was the case last year, to tit-for-tat exchanges and “precision strikes” on a narrow range of military targets. It’s reached a wholly different level. Potentially nothing is off the table. Civilians are being killed on both sides. Leaders are targets. The rhetoric is out of control. With Israel fighting on several fronts, and Iran’s battered regime backed against a wall, the Middle East is closer than ever to a disastrous conflagration.

Reasons can always be found to go to war. The roots of major conflicts often reach back decades – and this is true of the Israel-Iran vendetta, which dates to the 1979 Islamic revolution. The so-called “shadow war” between the two intensified in recent years. Yet all-out conflict had been avoided, until now. So who is principally to blame for this sudden, unprecedented explosion?

Answer: three angry old men whose behaviour raises serious doubts about their judgment, common sense, motives and even their sanity.

cross-posted from: https://rss.ponder.cat/post/207763

Your next phone could run on Trump Mobile

Donald Trump might be planning to launch a mobile network and a Trump-branded phone. DTTM Operations LLC, the company Trump uses to manage his trademarks, has applied to use both “Trump” and “T1” for telecoms, mobile accessories, and even phones themselves.

The applications, filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office last Thursday, cover wireless phone services, mobile phones, cases, and chargers, plus retail stores to sell them all.

A trademark application doesn’t guarantee that a Trump mobile network is about to launch, but it does signal intent. “The specificity of the applications points to serious consideration,” patent attorney Josh Gerben wrote in a blog post on Friday, noting that as part of the filing a lawyer for Trump will have “signed a sworn declaration affirming the company’s genuine plans to bring these goods and services to market.”

Trump launching a mobile network could have complications. For one, Gerben points out that T-Mobile might have a thing or two to say about the application, since “T1” could infringe on its own trademarks. That’s before we get to the question of how FCC chairman Brendan Carr will handle regulating a network owned by his boss.

Trump isn’t the only public figure with his sights set on telecoms. While Ryan Reynolds has gotten out after selling his stake in Mint Mobile to T-Mobile in 2023, just last week saw the launch of SmartLess Mobile, brought to you by the podcast of the same name hosted by Hollywood stars Will Arnett, Jason Bateman, and Sean Hayes.

From The Verge via this RSS feed

Major components of the surveillance network include the use of automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology, and monitoring of social media through “sock puppet” accounts. Meanwhile, Jackson County is using a third-party lease to make its publicly owned building available to ICE for its Southern Oregon field office, creating another “backdoor” for local government resources to be utilized by ICE despite Oregon’s status as a “sanctuary state.”

Our latest trove of public records total 313 pages. Below is an overview of the records, which were obtained through public records requests to the city of Medford, the city of Grants Pass, and Jackson County. We provide a downloadable copy of the records at the bottom of this blog post.

Politicians lie, and the people around them do too. When it’s convenient – when the whole world is pulsing with revulsion, for example – they begin to reveal flavors of the truth.

The Biden administration lied more than most, its public-facing members particularly. Its policy in Palestine was to embrace the Israelis in a “bear hug” – to smother them with love. And there’s thin cover for a genocide beyond lies.

In the interview, the former spokesman shared his personal view that it is “without a doubt true that Israel has committed war crimes”. Asked if that had been true when he was employed by the government, he suggested that lying is just part of the job: “You are a spokesperson for the president, the administration, and you espouse the positions of the administration. And when you’re not in the administration, you can just give your own opinions.”

Miller isn’t alone. The Biden-era spokespeople for the genocide included the White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and the deputy state department spokesperson Vedant Patel, as well as Jake Sullivan, a primary policymaker for an addled president, who represented the actual center of power along with John Kirby, a former admiral, and Antony Blinken, the former secretary of state. The group spent the period from October 2023 to January 2025 lying to an anguished public. They lied scornfully (Jean-Pierre) or gleefully (Miller), mawkishly (Kirby and Blinken), or blandly (Patel and Sullivan). And they did it every day, for 15 months.