Summary

Germany’s domestic intelligence agency declared the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party a “proven right-wing extremist organization,” citing Holocaust trivialization, Nazi slogans, and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

This marks the first time a federally represented party has been labeled extremist.

U.S. Republicans, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President J.D. Vance, condemned the move. Rubio called it “tyranny in disguise” and praised the AfD’s popularity, while Elon Musk said banning the “centrist AfD” would be “an extreme attack on democracy.”

The AfD recently won 152 seats and over 20% of the vote.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/29593438

By Erika Solomon and Rawan Sheikh Ahmad
Photographs and Video by Saher Alghorra
Saher Alghorra reported from northern Gaza.
May 4, 2025 Updated 9:07 a.m. ET

https://archive.ph/ABn6a

[Bias alert - NYT usually favors Israel] [Hard to believe that the "civilized West" has done nothing against this. The judgement of history will be harsh.]

"The longer Israel’s total siege of the enclave grinds on, the more doctors call to ask where they can find medicine to keep patients alive. Some patients call him up themselves — people with treatable heart problems or kidney failure — to ask: If there is no medicine, what else can they try?

“There’s no advice I can give them,” he said. “In most cases, those patients die.”"

The government is making it harder to make a claim for pay equity that will cut costs, saying the current system is too loose.

There have been massive pay equity claims in recent years for nurses and resthome workers.

Workplace Minister Brooke van Velden announced the moves to raise the threshold for proving work has been historically undervalued to support a claim, on Tuesday saying changes back in 2020 had created problems.

"Claims have been able to progress without strong evidence of undervaluation and there have been very broad claims where it is difficult to tell whether differences in pay are due to sex-based discrimination or other factors."

Claims were concentrated in the public sector, with costs to the Crown of all settlements so far totalling $1.78 billion a year, she said.

"The changes I am proposing will significantly reduce costs to the Crown," she said.

"The changes will discontinue current pay equity claims

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/33936574

While attention in Central Europe has often centered on Russian propaganda, China has been quietly cultivating its own influence operations through unexpected channels – from Czech radio stations to TikTok influencers and all-expenses-paid trips to China. These efforts reveal a growing sophistication in Beijing’s strategy to shape perceptions abroad, leveraging entertainment, travel, and digital culture to mask deeper political objectives. What appears at first glance to be harmless cultural exchange may, in fact, form part of a broader, state-driven influence campaign with far-reaching implications for public discourse and (social) media integrity in the Czech Republic and beyond.

[...]

Beyond [social media] influencers, China’s covert propaganda has infiltrated traditional Czech media. Between 2019 and 2023, the show “Barevný svět” aired up to six times a week on Radio HEY. While it appeared to be a travel program, analysis by China analyst Ivana Karásková revealed it was produced in partnership with China Radio International (CRI), a state outlet under the Chinese Communist Party’s control. The program portrayed China exclusively in a positive light, referred to Taiwan as “the largest island belonging to China,” and promoted Tibet’s inclusion as a rightful part of the country. The broadcast was discontinued only after Karásková’s findings were published.

Print and television media have not been immune either. After Chinese conglomerate CEFC entered Empresa Media, negative or even neutral reporting on China disappeared from the media group’s major outlets such as Týden and TV Barrandov. In 2019, the Czech daily Právo published an eight-page insert celebrating 70 years of Czech-China relations. Although marked as commercial content in fine print, the pages were authored by Czech journalists – blurring the lines between editorial and advertorial.

TikTok campaigns have also been rolled out in the Czech Republic with increasing subtlety. In late 2022, Czech influencers Dominique Alagia and Lukáš Tůma participated in a sponsored trend featuring a cartoon lion – referencing the Czech national symbol – created by CRI.

[...]

Although not all Czech influencers explicitly disclosed the paid nature of the collaboration, parallel campaigns were launched in Poland and Greece, adapting national symbols to better resonate with local audiences – a young bull (ciołek) in Poland and an owl, a classical symbol of wisdom, in Greece. In both cases, European influencers were contacted to collaborate with TikTok accounts run by Chinese individuals fluent in local languages, who produce content targeted at European audiences. The goal was to boost the engagement of these Chinese influencers operating in Europe.

In Poland, a Chinese woman fluent in Polish, Oliwia Waskocha, coordinated the campaign in November 2022, involving a large number of influencers; collectively, these Polish influencers currently amass nearly 7 million followers on TikTok alone. In Greece, a Chinese woman operating under the handle @mariannalee_ (with 81,400 TikTok followers) spearheaded a comparable campaign, using dance performances featuring an owl to symbolically connect with Greek cultural heritage.

[...]

One of these influencers – Jan Michálek – even travelled to China, a trip fully funded by Chinese entities, which he confirmed in a 2024 podcast. A promotional video published by Pepa Zhang’s official Facebook account shows Michálek enjoying Xinjiang’s landscapes and cultural festivals, portraying a region better known internationally for its human rights controversies as an idyllic travel destination. Both Pepa and Lada are featured singing with their Czech guest, suggesting not just casual exchange but orchestrated cultural diplomacy.

[...]

The term “white monkey,” often used pejoratively in some Asian contexts, refers to Westerners hired to lend prestige to events or promotional content. Though problematic, it may describe the underlying logic of these Chinese-sponsored influencer trips: showcasing foreign admiration to boost China’s image among its own citizens. By omitting political issues, these campaigns present China as modern, friendly, and culturally rich – ideal for soft power projection.

TikTok represents an ideal platform for Chinese state-linked actors to disseminate promotional content. Influencers on the app are not only accustomed to paid collaborations, but they also command the attention of vast, often young, audiences who place a high degree of trust in their recommendations. These creators offer a ready-made channel for subtle messaging that bypasses traditional media scrutiny. Crucially, TikTok remains largely unmonitored by governmental or civil society institutions that might otherwise flag, contextualize, or push back against such content. This vacuum creates fertile ground for influence operations to take root and spread, often unnoticed, in the feeds of millions.

Wellington Airport is about to have its wings clipped.

Its two giant eagle sculptures - each of which weighs more than a tonne - are to be packed away, and what will replace them is being kept under wraps.

"It's not unusual to see airborne departures from Wellington Airport, but in this case, it will be emotional for us," Wellington Airport chief executive Matt Clarke said.

"They have been a huge success and travellers from around the world have loved admiring them. After 12 years it's the right time for them to fly the nest."

The sculptures, made by Wētā Workshop, were installed in 2013 as a tie-in with Peter Jackson's The Hobbit movie trilogy.

"We're working with Wētā Workshop on some exciting plans for a unique, locally themed replacement to take their place," Clarke said.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/29086947

Whose philosophy on stealth is "If there's no one left to raise the alarm no one can raise the alarm".

A factory processing US hazardous waste in Mexico has promised to relocate what authorities call its “most polluting” operations following a Guardian investigation.

The plant in the Monterrey metropolitan area recycles toxic steel dust sent by the US steel industry and recovers zinc, according to that reporting, which was produced in partnership with Quinto Elemento Lab, a Mexico investigative journalism unit. It revealed evidence of heavy-metals pollution in the surrounding neighborhoods.

The factory, Zinc Nacional, has since been contending with inspections and threats of closures by environmental regulators, court actions and media scrutiny.

Neighbors have held repeated demonstrations outside the plant, carrying signs with slogans such as “Take your mess to the US” and “Your millions are not worth our lives.”

Well intentioned... but, how?!

More! I need more of this!

Both professional activities and hobbies

For example... If a new hire is introduced as "good at Python and C++" at work, what does this imply about the person's skill level in your opinion? Or if someone says they are a "good runner", what would come to your mind? Or is it field-dependent?

Asking because sometimes I'm not sure if I am under/over-exaggerating my own abilities when meeting new ppl at work/etc....

Anyone else noticing faster battery drain on iPad or iPhone since the update? An hour and a half of content has chewed through over 50% of my battery on my M1 iPad, not to mention the device getting very hot.

I just want to congratulate Australia on winning their election. Great job!!

Large-scale cryptocurrency mining operations began popping up across the United States a decade ago. But it was China’s crackdown on miners in 2021, leading many to relocate to the US, that cemented the country’s role as the global hotspot for minting bitcoin. With at least 137 commercial-level facilities across the country, clustered mostly in Texas, the sector uses up to 2.3% of the nation’s grid, according to estimates by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), a government agency that gathers and disseminates statistics on energy use. Whereas Joe Biden had promised to crack down on the industry, Donald Trump wants bitcoin to be “mined, minted and made in the USA”, setting the scene for bitcoin mines to roar louder throughout the rural US in the coming years.

“President Trump and his administration have done a lot to deliver on the promises that they made during the campaign, and we see this industry growing rapidly” Fred Thiel, the CEO of Mara, the world’s largest miner and owner of the 300-megawatt (MW) site in Granbury, told Fox Business in March. “We want to see the US be the dominant bitcoin mining country in the world.” Shortly before that interview, the firm acquired a 354-MW Texan wind farm to power a new mine, and has begun tapping natural gas from oilfields to fuel new facilities.

“They promised to be good neighbors, but so far their noise is constant,” says Dave Simpson, who lives a quarter of a mile from the Wyoming site. The facility is yet to reach full capacity. Simpson worries about how a constant drone will affect his property’s valuation. “I miss the quiet times,” he says.

Meme transcription:

Predators in nature

[Superimposed over an image of a tiger] I stalk my prey for hours before I make a sudden attack

[Superimposed over an image of a camouflaging octopus] I blend in with my surroundings to become invisible for my prey

[Superimposed over an owl in flight] I grow specialized feathers to muffle any sound I make during flight

Predators in movies

[Superimposed over a still from the 1990 movie Jurassic Park showing a screaming Tyrannosaurus Rex] Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!

Image sources:

https://hdqwalls.com/wallpapers/great-horned-owl-to.jpg
https://scaquarium.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/octopus-izzy-03-1.jpg
https://st.depositphotos.com/1171396/2488/i/950/depositphotos_24882971-Tiger-stalking.jpg
https://d279m997dpfwgl.cloudfront.net/wp/2015/06/0610_t-rex1.jpg

The war between Lebanon and Israel has officially ended yet Israeli strikes continue. The unprecedented destruction poses risks to health and the environment.