cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/50976930

Jimmy Lai and countless others in China are paying the price for a West too eager to compromise principles for profit.

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Just about two weeks before Hong Kong pro-democracy media mogul Jimmy Lai was handed a 20-year prison sentence, the harshest under the city’s National Security Law, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Beijing. He walked the red carpet at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, met President Xi Jinping, and attended a lavish welcome ceremony. It was widely hailed as a “break-the-ice” visit, the first by a British prime minister in six years, aimed at normalizing relations with China.

The timing, however, spoke volumes. On the eve of Lai’s sentencing, Starmer signaled that British diplomacy was prioritizing friendship with Beijing over the fate of a British citizen, Jimmy Lai. The message was unmistakable: no matter how China treats Jimmy Lai, the normalization of China-U.K. relations will carry on.

[...]

Starmer later told reporters he had raised Lai’s case with Xi, but offered no details, leaving the public to wonder if Beijing even blinked. The answer came swiftly: Lai, 78, was sentenced to what is effectively a life term. To put it bluntly, this is almost a death sentence. Lai now faces a fate akin to Liu Xiaobo, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who perished in detention.

The severity of the sentence shocked observers. Compared with the 2024 trial of 47 pro-democracy activists, Lai’s 20-year term is twice as long as that handed to Benny Tai, who was accused of masterminding the 2020 primary legislative election. Editors, publishers, and editorial writers involved in Lai’s publications were regarded by the court as masterminds and handed sentences of up to 10 years, punished for simply doing their jobs as journalists.

[...]

Ironically, the imposition of such harsh sentences has unfolded against a backdrop of Western governments seeking to normalize relations with China. The reshaping of global politics under U.S. President Donald Trump has nudged allies to engage China. Over the past year, Western leaders who once condemned Beijing for human rights abuses – from France to Germany, Canada to the U.K. – have queued to shake Xi’s hand, sign trade deals, and signal goodwill.

As international pressure eases, the Chinese Communist Party has intensified its crackdown on dissent, acting with a level of impunity not seen in previous years. Beijing’s calculation is clear: if Western powers are eager to deepen economic ties, the diplomatic price of jailing dissidents has all but disappeared.

[...]

Now Jimmy Lai and countless others in China are paying the price for a West too eager to compromise principles for profit. Their suffering is a mirror reflecting the cost of a diplomacy that prioritizes access to China’s market and money over freedom, human rights, and justice.

[...]

Meta has been granted a patent outlining an AI system capable of simulating a user’s activity on social media to post after their death.

DHS asked for their names and other identifying details from tech companies, according to The New York Times.

Jewish and Palestinian students and staff are bearing the brunt of ingrained racism at universities as institutions are chastised for failing to address hate on campus.

People from Indigenous, Asian, Middle Eastern, African, Pasifika, Māori and Muslim backgrounds also face high rates of racism, a landmark Australian Human Rights Commission report released on Tuesday found.

Messages from ex-wife of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor to sex offender, sent after his conviction, came to light last month

Six companies linked to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, are being wound down in the wake of revelations about her relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.

According to Companies House, an application to strike off each company was filed after new details about Ferguson’s contact with Epstein came to light in the millions of documents released by US authorities as part of the Epstein files.

Ferguson, 66, was sole director of the six companies: S Phoenix Events, Fergie’s Farm, La Luna Investments, Solamoon Ltd, Philanthrapreneur Ltd and Planet Partners Productions Ltd.

In documents published last month, the former duchess appears to say to Epstein: “I am at your service. Just marry me.”

MBFC
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The CAESAR self-propelled howitzer (Camion Équipé d’un Système d’Artillerie) MK1 is a 155 mm calibre indirect fire system that enables units to rapidly redeploy over long distances and engage targets at ranges exceeding 40 kilometres. The use of a standard calibre allows the system to operate with various types of NATO-standard ammunition. The system’s high degree of automation, combined with operational simplicity, enables crews to be trained within a matter of weeks. Its widespread use among different countries ensures long-term logistical support and availability of spare parts.

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“My mom was on the phone with me,” Marlene said, “and she was screaming, telling them that she was a citizen, that she was a citizen, and they just went straight to busting her window, didn’t give her a second to even put the car in park and then … she said it went downhill from there.”

The daughter added: “As soon as they … read her passport, because she’s a citizen, they just flopped her on the floor, threw her papers on the floor, and just left.”

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/55455814

The fourth article in my series about "self-hosting for newbies" explaining how I take care of backups for my YunoHost server.

Direct video: https://youtu.be/O9ao_HLi1gE

When the plant failed on February 4, sewage backed up in the main outfall pipeline and flooded the lower floors of the facility. For two days, raw sewage was released from an outfall only five metres from shore at one of the capital city’s most popular kaimoana (seafood) gathering sites.

Meta has been granted a patent outlining an AI system capable of simulating a user’s activity on social media to post after their death.

Some fucked up shit.

Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar is launching his election campaign and says he can return Hungary to a stronger European path.

Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar launched his party’s election campaign in Budapest on Sunday, vowing to restore Hungary’s Western orientation just eight weeks before he faces Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in a pivotal vote.

Magyar, a former insider in Orbán’s nationalist Fidesz party, burst onto Hungary’s political scene in 2024 after breaking with his political community and quickly forming the center-right Tisza party.

After taking around 30% of the vote in European Parliament elections in June 2024, he has grown Tisza into the most formidable political force Orbán has faced during his 16 years at Hungary’s helm. Most independent polls show Tisza with a significant lead before the April 12 vote, an advantage which has held steady for more than a year.

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cross-posted from: https://aussie.zone/post/29749532

(15-02-2026)

ALP members must support these rebel MPs and force a repeal of these anti-democratic protest laws. The South Coast Labour Council posted a call by the President of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Timothy Roberts:

“We call on the Labor caucus to either bring this Premier to heel or turf him out.”

How the NSW Left will square this circle remains to be seen, but ALP activists must make it increasingly difficult for the NSW Government to carry on like this. An open rebellion is required.

The article also has a section critisising the Palestine Action Group's organisation of protests, as well as some socialist groups seeking to fill the gap:

The high political stakes of this demonstration demanded discipline, democratic transparency and collective planning; instead, the rally drifted.

I made this comment:

The executions of top Republicans are a necessity: Nuremberg 2.0. Not enough Confederate officials were punished as traitors.

It was removed and I was given a warning. On a whim I decided that "the system" might actually work so I made a straightforward argument that:

Arguing for Congress to initiate an inquisition as to who has failed the country and when, with the capacity to institute the death penalty, is within legally mandated freedom of speech.

And very quickly, my comment's removal was overturned.

The federal government has been usurped by a minority of White evangelical christians around a nazi-style fascist.

Not enough confederates were put to death. We have to stop making the mistake of failing to hold these people accountable.

Trump raped children.

Frankly I wish I had saved the text I used to submit the appeal. Oh well. It's my reddit cake day and I'm still in favor of burning reddit to the ground but that doesn't mean there isn't work available there for the enterprising shitposter.

Look, I consider myself ameteorological. I try not to pay attention to that crap because I know that even if I kept up with everything it's not like anything I could do could change anything. But lately it's just. fucking. everywhere, even in what should be escapist entertainment. Entire sporting events have even been canceled on account of weather. Worse, they even have a "Winter" Olympics now.

It's in practically every game that has an outdoor component. Stardew Valley is practically unplayable.

And don't tell me to just read a book. There's a reason they call it the pathetic fallacy. "It was a dark and stormy night." Oh my god, shut the fuck up, no one wants to hear your goddamn weather report. Leave it to the professionals so they can be safely ignored. This is why I have to set my device calendars eleven days in the future so they can't bombard me with the current temperature at their corporate headquarters every time I turn on the screen.

Argentinians look for extra jobs, find things to sell, use their credit cards, and get small loans to pay for basics, including food, until the next paycheck arrives.